Sandeep Lamichhane, the former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team, was convicted on Friday of rape.
A single bench of Judge Shishir Raj Dhakal passed the order on Friday following the conclusion of the final hearings that started on Sunday, according to the Kathmandu Post. The Kathmandu District Court on Friday convicted Lamichhane of rape. The court also concluded that the girl was not a minor at the time of the rape, the report added.
The next hearing will determine the jail term for the player, it said further.
The cricketer, who was arrested after a girl alleged that he raped her in a hotel room in Kathmandu in August last year, was released on bail in January by a Nepal court.
A joint bench of the Patan High Court judges Dhruvaraj Nanda and Ramesh Dhakal decided to release Lamichhane on bail of Rs 2 million, reversing the decision of the Kathmandu district court. The 23-year-old was also barred from leaving the country until the final verdict of the court in the case.
In February, the Scotland cricket team players had refused to shake Lamichhane’s hands after their 3-wicket loss to Nepal.
The Scottish players shook hands with every Nepal player, except Lamichhane as part of a silent protest to the spinner’s continued presence and participation in the ICC’s Cricket World Cup League 2 series which also includes Namibia. Lamichhane had been made aware of the protest beforehand.
Lamichhane is the first cricketer from Nepal to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when he made his debut for the Delhi Capitals in 2018.
The leg-spinner was also a much sought-after cricketer in other big-ticket T20 leagues around the world, including the Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the CPL.
He holds the record for the world’s second-fastest bowler to capture 50 ODI wickets and the third-fastest to race to 50 T20I wickets.
Lamichhane’s last international appearance came in August this year when he played against Kenya in a T20I encounter.
(With Agency Inputs)
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