KATHMANDU, Jan 12: Cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane is currently awaiting the full text of the district court’s verdict to appeal the rape case against him in the high court.

On January 10, the Kathmandu District Court sentenced cricketer Lamichhane to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of raping a girl nicknamed Gaushala 26 to protect the victim’s identity. A single bench of Judge Shishir Raj Dhakal at the Kathmandu District Court sentenced Lamichhane to eight years in jail. The bench also ordered the cricketer to pay a fine of Rs 300,000 and a compensation of Rs 200,000 to the victim for psychological distress.

Saroj Krishna Ghimire, who has been advocating for Lamichhane, said that they are going to appeal at the high court because the district court has found him guilty even though Lamichhane maintains his innocence.

Lawyer Ghimire said, “He is going to appeal to the high court for justice, insisting that Lamichhane is not guilty on any basis, reason, or evidence.”

Ghimire said that they are waiting for the full text of the district court's verdict to appeal to the high court.

“We are going to appeal at Patan High Court against the judgment of District Court, Kathmandu,” Ghimire said, “Now we are waiting for the full text of the verdict of the district court. The court may provide a full text within a month, and then we are going to move the high court immediately.”

The then captain of the national cricket team of Nepal, Lamichhane, was arrested from Tribhuvan International Airport on October 6, 2022 after a complaint was filed against him at the Gaushala Police Circle on September 6, 2022 for allegedly raping a minor multiple times in a hotel room in Sinamangal, Kathmandu on August 21. 

District Police Range Kathmandu and Police Circle Gaushala submitted a report on October 21, 2022, after investigating the allegations against Lamichhane.

Lamichhane, who was in custody before the case was registered, was ordered by the Kathmandu District Court to be sent to custody on November 4, 2022. A petition was filed against that order in the Patan High Court. On January 12, the Patan High Court ordered Lamichhane to be released on a bail of Rs 2 million.

According to Patan High Court’s Information Officer Devendra Poudel, a joint bench of high court judges Dhruba Raj Nanda and Ramesh Dhakal issued the order to release Lamichhane on a bail amount of Rs 2 million on January 12. Lamichhane’s lawyers Shambhu Thapa, Raman Shrestha, Krishna Bhandari, and Murari Sapkota had pleaded on behalf of the cricketer. He was released on bail from the Central Jail in Sundhara on January 13.

The high court had permitted the authorities concerned to release Lamichhane against a bail amount of Rs 2 million while barring the cricketer from leaving the country on any pretext.

The Supreme Court (SC) on February 27 issued an order allowing rape-accused cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane to travel to foreign countries to play cricket matches. A joint bench of justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Kumar Chudal overturned the earlier verdict of the Patan High Court.

The case against Lamichhane was scheduled for hearing in the district court for the 36th time since mid-November 2022. Lawyers from Lamichhane's side had been raising questions about the age of the victim.

The Kathmandu District Court, however, ruled that the victim girl nicknamed Gaushala 26 had reached 18 years of age. Even though the victim was an adult, the court found Lamichhane guilty, stating that rape has been proven. The court held that Lamichhane had committed the offense under Section 219 (1, 2, and 3) (e) of the Civil Code 2074, as the act was not consensual.

 
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