POLICE IN Nepal say they have received a request from gardaí for assistance in investigating the activities of Cathal Ó Searcaigh in the central Asian country.
But Nepalese police said no official inquiry was under way as they had yet to receive a formal complaint or allegation from within the jurisdiction against the poet.
Gardaí told their counterparts in Nepal that they were investigating "various degrees of sexual activity" by the poet with "young males" in Nepal, following revelations contained in the documentary Fairytale of Kathmandu.
In a letter last month, gardaí asked Nepalese police to confirm whether the latest Interpol information regarding the country's laws was still valid.
In response, police in Nepal noted that the age of consent in the country for sexual activity was 16 years "for both males and females". Nepalese police have also pointed out that there is no law against homosexuality in Nepal.
Meanwhile, the Nepalese Child Welfare Board (CWB), a government-sponsored agency, said it was conducting investigations into Ó Searcaigh's relationships with young males while he visited Nepal over the past number of years.
Gyan Bahadur Lama, secretary of the CWB, said it had interviewed a number of young men who had relations with Mr Ó Searcaigh. But, he said, it had not at this point lodged a complaint with police in Kathmandu.
