Recent reports state that The Kathmandu District Court on Wednesday sentenced Nepal cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane to eight years in jail for rape.
A single bench of Judge Shishir Raj Dhakal pronounced the jail term. The bench also slapped a Rs 3,00,000 fine and ordered the cricketer to pay Rs 2,00,000 in compensation to the victim, said Chandra Prasad Panthi, information officer at the court.
“The court has sentenced him for eight years,” Kathmandu district court official Ramu Sharma has been quoted as telling AFP.
Lamichhane, who is not in custody, was not in court for the sentencing.
His lawyer, Saroj Ghimire, told AFP he “will appeal the decision in a higher court”.
Lamichhane, 23, is Nepal’s most high-profile cricketer, and the first cricketer from Nepal to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when he made his debut for the Delhi Capitals franchise in 2018.
On December 29, the bench at the Kathmandu District Court convicted the former captain of the national cricket team after concluding that he had raped Gushala-26, a name given to the victim, in a Tilganga-based hotel on August 21, 2022. A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday to determine the sentence.
On January 12, the Patan High Court ordered the release of the cricketer. Responding to a review petition filed by Lamichhane, a joint bench of judges Dhruva Raj Nanda and Ramesh Dahal ordered Lamichhane’s release on a bail bond of Rs 20 lakh with conditions.
The affected minor had filed a case against the cricketer on September 6 at the Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala.
Nepal police investigated Lamichhane under Section 219 of the National Penal Act, 2017 after the affected 17-year-old minor had filed the complaint against him.
Nepal Police arrested him on October 6, 2022 at the Tribhuvan International Airport on his return from Trinidad & Tobago where he played in the Caribbean Premier League.
More to follow…
(with inputs from agencies)
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