Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Oct 13: The Kathmandu District Court ordered Sandeep Lamichhane on Thursday to remain in police custody for a further five days while the investigation into the alleged rape of the former captain of the Nepal cricket team is ongoing. On October 12, the investigation’s deadline, but the cricketer appeared in court earlier that day to ask for an extension of police custody.
Nepalese cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane has been sent to Police custody for an additional 5 days, confirms his lawyer.
He was arrested by Nepal Police on October 6 in connection with the rape of a minor. pic.twitter.com/ageiKyjf8Z
— ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2022
On October 6, Sandeep Lamichhane was taken into custody by Nepal Police on rape-related accusations. He was initially given judicial custody for a period of seven days, which started when he turned himself in. When he landed at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport, he was arrested. Lamichhane returned to Nepal after pressure from the Nepali government led to Interpol being activated.
A 17-year-old woman accused the spin bowler of raping her in a Nepali hotel room, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The girl was allegedly taken around Kathmandu and Bhaktapur by 22-year-old Lamichhane on August 21 for a visit before she was sexually assaulted there later that evening.
Prior to bringing a criminal case against him, the court may give him up to 25 days from the time of his arrest to look into the situation. Even though Lamichhane had earlier stated that he would completely help with the inquiry, he has been arguing his innocence in court.
Notably, when the arrest warrant was issued against Lamichhane in September, he was competing in the Caribbean Premier League. Up until last month, he served as captain of the Nepal cricket team, but the national cricket body suspended him to help with the inquiry.
One of Nepal’s top cricketers, Lamichhane, became the first representative from that nation to compete in the Indian Premier League. He had committed to participating in IPL 2018 with the Delhi Capitals. In a T20I match against Kenya in August of this year, Lamichhane made his final international appearance.
