Nepal cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane sentenced to 8 years in jail for rape

Kathmandu, Jan 10 (PTI) Nepal spinner Sandeep Lamichhane has been sentenced to eight years in jail by a Kathmandu court after being convicted of rape.

According to Kathmandu Post, the Kathmandu District Court announced the verdict on Wednesday after he was proven guilty of raping an 18-year-old woman.

A single-judge bench also imposed a Rs 3,00,000 fine on the 23-year-old, besides ordering him to pay a compensation of Rs 2,00,000 to the victim.

Lamichhane's lawyer Saroj Ghimire was quoted as saying that he "will appeal the decision in a higher court." In September last year, an arrest warrant was issued by the Kathmandu police for Lamichhane, leading to his suspension as the Nepal captain by the Cricket Association of Nepal.

Although he was playing in the Caribbean Premier League for Jamaica Tallawahs, the franchise released him with immediate effect, as he returned to Kathmandu, where he was arrested.

However, Lamichhane pleaded innocent before his arrest and wrote on Facebook that he would "fully cooperate in all stages of the investigation and will fight a legal battle to prove my innocence", besides calling it "conspiracy and wrongful allegation".

Although he was reconsidered for Nepal during the Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series at home last February, he was dropped for the World Cup League 2 tri-series in Dubai later last year before rejoining the side as an injury replacement.

Lamichhane has since played for Nepal in the ODI World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe last June-July, followed by the Asia Cup in August-September.

He has scalped over 100 wickets in over 100 white-ball matches for Nepal. He has also had a brief stint in the Indian Premier League with Delhi Capitals between 2018-20, bagging 13 wickets in nine fixtures. PTI