Police have arrested cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, who has been accused of raping a minor. Lamichhane was arrested upon his return to Nepal at 11 AM Thursday.
According to Dinesh Mainali, spokesperson for District Police Range, Kathmandu, Lamichhane has been arrested and taken to the Gaushala Police Circle. Police had detained him at the Tribhuvan International Airport as soon as he landed in Kathmandu.
Lamichhane had written on Facebook that he would land at TIA on a Qatar Airways flight at 10 AM Thursday. He had also written that he would face the charges against him after returning to Nepal.
According to a police source, Lamichhane had traveled on a business class ticket. The source also informed that he had been in the USA until his return to Nepal.
A 17-year-old girl filed a rape complaint against Lamichhane at the Gaushala Polie Circle on September 6.
The girl has complained that Lamichhane took her out to different places of Bhaktapur and Kathmandu on August 21, a day before Lamichhane left for the bilateral series with Kenya.
She has accused Lamichhane of raping her multiple times in room number 305 of a hotel in Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward Number 9 that night.
The girl has claimed in her complaint that she had gone to Nagarkot with Lamichhane on August 17 after being introduced to him through a friend.
Lamichhane left to play in the Carribean Premier League after leading the team to a 3-2 victory in the five-match Twenty20 series against Kenya. Rohit Kumar Paudel then led the Nepali team in the one-dayers in his absence.
An arrest warrant was issued against Lamichhane on September 8 and the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) suspended him from the national team the same day after issuance of the arrest warrant.
Nepal Police later also issued a diffusion notice against him through Interpol on September 26.
Section 219 (2) of the National Penal (Code) Act, 2017 states: “Where a man has sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent or with a girl child below eighteen years of age even with her consent, the man shall be considered to commit rape on such woman or girl child.”
