INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, January 12After spending slightly over three months behind bars, star cricketer and former national cricket
team captain Sandeep Lamichhane will get out on bail tomorrow
The Patan High Court today ordered his release on bail of Rs 2 million.
Wai Wai U-19 National Cricket Tournament from
Sandeep Lamichhane sent to judicial custody
A joint bench of justices Dhruva Raj Nanda and Ramesh Dhakal today granted
Lamichhane, 25, the bail to let him fight the legal battle staying out of jail.
The court granted Lamichhane the bail after
it was assured that he would neither contact the girl who accused him of rape nor would he abscond.Advocate Saroj Ghimire, who is
representing Lamichhane, said the court had barred Lamichhane from leaving Nepal
In fact, he shall have to take special permission from District Administration Office even to leave Kathmandu valley
In case he violates any of these restrictions, the police can rearrest him
Moreover, his conversations on mobile phone shall be recorded by investigation officers
Even the media has been barred from commenting on the case and advocates have been told not to share any information with media.On November
4, Kathmandu District Court had sent him to judicial custody until the final verdict, observing that 'the available prima facie evidences
showed that the court could not conclude that he was innocent.' Lamichhane had then moved the high court seeking bail.KDC had looked into
evidences submitted by of victims' counsel, such as CCTV footage of Lamichhane entering Kathmandu Inn, medical report of the victim that
mentioned 'tearing of the hymen', statements of hotel employees that matched the accusation made by the victim, messages exchanged by
Lamichhane and the victim on Snapchat, and documents police retrieved from the hotel.The defendants, on the other hand, had argued that
there was no proof that Lamichhane had raped the girl and had insisted that Lamichhane spent the night on a table and let the girl sleep on
the bed.On September 6, the girl, who is a minor, along with a guardian - her elder brother - had filed a complaint against Lamichhane at
She accused him of raping her in Kathmandu Inn, a hotel in Sinamangal, Kathmandu, on the night of August 2.The girl had alleged that she was
As per the FIR, Lamichhane even beat her up when she refused to have intercourse.CCTV footage showed both leaving the hotel early next
Lamichhane left for Kenya to participate in the Cricket T-20 series in Nairobi the same day
From there he had travelled to the West Indies to participate in the Caribbean Premier League.Lamichhane was captain of the national cricket
team when he was accused of rape
A 17-year-old girl, along with her elder brother, filed a police complaint accusing Sandeep Lamichhane of raping her on the night of August
taking part in the Caribbean Premier League, wrote on Facebook that he would leave the CPL team, return to Nepal, surrender to police, and
January 12: Patan High Court orders his release on a bail of Rs 2 millionA version of this article appears in the print on January 13, 2023,
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com