New Delhi, Sept 16: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama reacted to the recent allegations of sexual assault on Buddhist teachers in the West. While speaking to a Dutch news channel on Saturday, he claimed to have been apprised about the menace in early 1990s.

"I already did know these things, nothing new," Dalai Lama said while speaking to Dutch public television NOS, adding that he first came to know about sex abuse by Buddhist teachers at a conference held in Dharamshala "25 years ago". Buddhist Monk Held for Alleged Sexual Abuse of 15 Boys.

Dalai Lama, 83, lives in exile in Dharamshala over the past few decades. He was terminated from Tibet by the China-backed government for his alleged support for secession movement.

Questions on "sexual abuse by Buddhist teachers" were raised before him as a number of cases have emerged in the past couple of years in Europe and America.

Acknowledging the issue, Dalai Lama said the perpetrators of such crime are far away from the teachings of Buddha. "They don't care about Buddhism," he said, adding that a decision would be taken by Tibetan spiritual leaders on the issue while meeting in Dharamshala in November this year.

"They should talk about it during the meeting and pay more attention (to the issue)," Dalai Lama said in the televised interview.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 16, 2018 11:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).