The Kathmandu District Court on Tuesday began recording the statements of suspended national cricket team captain Sandeep Lamichhane and the minor girl who has accused the cricketer of raping her.
A single bench of Justice Madhav Prasad Ghimire recorded the statements of both the parties.
On Monday, the Kathmandu District Prosecutor’s Office had filed a charge sheet in the Kathmandu District Court against Lamichhane, accusing him of raping the 17-year-old.
“Lawyers from both sides have recorded their statements. The court is likely to decide whether to release him on bail, without bail or keep him in custody,” said Achyut Neupane, head of the district prosecutor’s office, in Kathmandu.
Neupane also said that during the closed-door recording, Lamichhane defended all the allegations made by the minor girl against him.
On Monday, the district attorney had filed a charge sheet against Lamichchane in the district court, seeking a prison sentence of 10-12 years for the alleged rape.
Lamichhane is accused of raping the minor on August 21. He has been charged under Article 219 of the Criminal Code 2074.
Through the charge sheet, the district attorney has sought damages from Lamichhane for the alleged physical and mental torture of the victim caused by Lamichhane’s alleged act. After the chargesheet was filed, Lamichhane’s bank account and property were frozen.
If the accusation against him is confirmed, he will be sentenced to imprisonment from 10 to 12 years according to the existing legal provisions.
Last week, Nepal Police after investigating Lamichhane said that he had indeed raped the minor. However, he has denied the accusation.
In her statement, the minor girl had told the police that Lamichhane had raped her twice. She informed the police that she first met Lamichhane through the social networking app Snapchat, and later the cricketer forcibly picked her up in Nagarkot and brought her back to a hotel in Tilganga, Kathmandu.
Meanwhile, Lamichhane in his statement to the police said that he took the minor to Nagarkot at the girl’s wish. He also said that the girl who committed suicide admitted to being 19 years old.
The minor had lodged a complaint against the 22-year-old cricketer on September 6 at the Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushalle.
Earlier, the District Court, Kathmandu had issued an arrest warrant against him on September 7 acting on the case filed by Gaushala Police Circle after the girl accused him of rape.
Following the arrest warrant, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) suspended the world-beating leg-spinner. When he was accused of rape, Lamichhane was in Trinidad & Tobago playing for the Twenty20 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise Jamaica Tallawahs.
Lamichhane wrote on Facebook the same day claiming he was innocent and would return to Nepal to seek justice. However, after he mysteriously disappeared, the Nepal Police circulated an Interpol bulletin against Lamichhane.
On October 1, Lamichhane announced that he would return to Nepal on October 6 to face legal charges. Shortly after he landed at the airport, he was arrested by Immigration Department officials and plainclothes personnel.
