Colombo, Oct 10: Two Buddhist monks and eight men have been remanded in custody for two weeks in connection with the sexual abuse of 11 war-orphaned boys, Sri Lanka's child protection authority said today. The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) said Colombo magistrate B N D Ballale at a private hearing on Wednesday ordered the men to be held for two weeks pending further police investigations into charges that children had been systematically abused.

"The magistrate on Wednesday night ordered the children to be kept in a separate children's home and that they should be subjected to medical examinations," NCPA spokesman Dimuthu Galapathy said.
The NCPA said boys aged between nine and 13 had been sexually abused by two monks and eight male adults at an orphanage located near the capital Colombo.

All 10 suspects, including the two monks, had been employed at the orphanage.
The home had been established during the height of the fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels as a safe haven for children whose parents and close relatives were killed by either side.

Bureau Report