Nepal court extends custody of star cricketer Lamichhane by five days

Cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane (C) is escorted by the police. File Pic/ AFP

The Kathmandu District Court on Thursday extended the custody of star cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane by five days as he is being investigated for rape charges.

Lamichhane arrested earlier on October 6 at Tribhuwan International Airport has been in police custody since then. Earlier, the deadline for the investigation over the star cricketer ended on October 12.

"The Police had requested for additional seven days of custody for investigation and further statement. We requested the honourable court that seven days would be long and one side investigation has already been concluded, so we asked for three day time but the court extended five days of custody. The new deadline is the end of Ashwin, October 17. Again on the first of Kartik that is October 18, he will be presented before the court. We expect the Police would complete their investigation and bring their final report of the investigation," Saroj Krishna Ghimire, lawyer of Sandeep Lamichhane told reporters.

The Kathmandu District Court had on October 13 granted permission to detain cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, who was arrested on rape charges, for seven days for investigation. Lamichhane has been claiming innocence in court.

A teenage girl has alleged Sandeep of rape. The police will be able to detain Sandeep for a maximum of 24 days for investigation. A girl, 17, filed a case alleging Lamichhane for taking her to various places in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur all day on August 21 and brought her to a hotel in Sinamangal of Kathmandu where she was raped the same night.

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A diffusion notice also was issued from INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) as he was on large with his location unknown since the registration of the case against him.

The Kathmandu District Court also has issued an arrest warrant against him over the case of raping a 17-year-old minor along with the Immigration Department of the Himalayan Nation blacklisting him.

Last year, leg spinner Lamichhane was appointed as the captain of the Nepal cricket team. Lamichhane formerly captained the Nepal Under-19 side first in 2016 during the Asia Cup and then in 2017 for the Asian Cricket Council World Cup Qualifier. He has also played in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The Police on the other hand after receiving the complaint has initiated an investigation under the National Penal (Code) Act, 2017's Section 219.

The National Penal (Code) Act, 2017 has criminalized the offence of rape under Chapter- 18, Section 219. Section 219 (2) defines rape as "where any person has sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent or with a girl child below eighteen years of age even with her consent, the person shall be considered to commit rape on such woman or girl child."

Section 219 (2) (a) states that consent obtained by way of coercion, undue influence, intimidation, threat, misinterpretation, or kidnapping or taking of hostage shall not be considered consent. Furthermore, section 219 (2) (b) ensures that consent obtained at the time of being of unsoundness of mind shall not be considered consent. If proven guilty, Lamichhane would be facing imprisonment of 10 to 12 years.