KHATMANDU: According to the Kathmandu Post, Nepal spinner Sandeep Lamichhane was found guilty of rape and given an eight-year prison sentence by a Kathmandu court.
Lamichhane was sentenced on January 10 after a single-judge panel of the Kathmandu District Court last month found him guilty of raping an 18-year-old lady. In addition, the bench fined him Rs 300,000 (about USD 2255) and mandated that he reimburse the victim with Rs 200,000 (around USD 1500). Saroj Ghimire, Lamichhane’s attorney, informed AFP that his client “will appeal the decision in a higher court.”
Lamichhane was suspended by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) on January 11 in response to the ruling.
Lamichhane, the captain of Nepal at the time, was suspended by CAN in the beginning of September 2022 after a Kathmandu arrest warrant was filed for him in connection with the incident. It followed the announcement that a complaint against Lamichhane had been registered in a Kathmandu police station.
Lamichhane was playing for the Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL 2022 while he was in the West Indies. Lamichhane’s instant withdrawal from the tournament was announced by the club. When he had arrived at the Kathmandu airport in early October, he had been arrested.
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Lamichhane had wrote on Facebook shortly before he was taken into custody, calling it a “conspiracy and wrongful allegation” and promising to “fully cooperate in all stages of the investigation and will fight a legal battle to prove my innocence”.
He rejoined the Nepal team in February of last year for a home Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series against Namibia and Scotland, which was met with protests by domestic rights groups. During the series, players from the other teams refused to shake hands with him after the matches. He was then left out of Nepal’s roster for the Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series in Dubai in early 2023, although he later returned to the team as a replacement due to injury. Since then, he has kept up his Nepali appearances, even at the ODI.
