The Dalai Lama is under fire after a disturbing video showed him kissing a young boy on the lips and asking the child to “suck” his tongue, sparking widespread global backlash

A controversial video has surfaced online purportedly showing Buddhist religious leader, the Dalai Lama, asking a child to kiss him on his lips and then “suck” his tongue.

The video, which has since gone viral, shows the religious leader kissing the boy, who approached him to pay his respects.

The incident has generated mixed reactions from netizens, with some criticizing the religious leader’s behavior as inappropriate, while others defended him, stating that it was a Maori tradition of New Zealand to rub noses and that the child kissed him with love.

In 2019, the Dalai Lama courted controversy when he suggested that if a woman were to succeed him, she should be “attractive.”

The religious leader also recently named an eight-year-old boy born in the US as the reincarnation of the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism.

The controversial Dalai Lama has since apologised after he faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour after kissing a young boy on the lips and asking him to “suck his tongue” at a public event in India.

It said in a statement, his office said:

“His holiness wishes to apologise to the boy and his family as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused.

“His holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident.”