Buddhist Monk Nearly Beaten To Death By Intruders

An elderly Buddhist monk was attacked and nearly killed by two thieves who left him for dead on his rural farm.

The horrific incident happened Friday afternoon in Spencer, Okla., in the Oklahoma City area. The intruders beat the devout monk, identified only as Tony by KFOR TV, with a pipe, robbed the house, and left him for dead. The monk reportedly was out cold on his porch for about 24 hours before he came to and was able to 911.

The monk provides an animal rescue facility on his secluded farm. The suspects reportedly are two local teenagers, and the police are looking for them. Tony’s farm provides a home for 13 horse, eight dogs, and various other animals.

According to neighbor and friend Joel Ortiz, “He really doesn’t even have anything to steal. I`m just in shock that this happened.” Added Ortiz: “I did peek in the ambulance as they were fixing to leave. I didn’t know it was even going on until I saw the ambulance and stuff here. Black eyes, all his teeth knocked out, beaten badly.” Ortiz is helping to take care of the animals while Tony, who reportedly only earns about $350 a month, recuperates in the hospital.

“As hard as his struggle is for somebody to come in and just take complete advantage of him when he doesn’t really have anything to take anyway,” Ortiz explained. “And he`s the type of person if they would have asked, he would have just gave it to them. They didn’t have to beat him up like that for it.”

The state of Oklahoma recently made national news for another violent crime. Late last month, three Oklahoma teens allegedly murdered Chris Lane, a college student from Australia, in a drive-by because they were bored and wanted to do something fun.

[Image via Shutterstock]