Sandeep Lamichhane has reportedly been sentenced to eight years in prison after he was convicted of rape by a Kathmandu court.

The former Nepal captain has also been order to pay a fine of Rs 300,000 and to pay Rs 200,000 in compensation to the victim. Lamichhane was found guilty of the rape of an unnamed victim on December 29 2023, 15 months after the complaint was first filed.

The investigation started while Lamichhane was playing in the 2022 Caribbean Premier League for Jamaica Tallawahs. He was arrested at an airport on his return to Kathmandu in October 2022, but was released on bail in January 2023.

In a Facebook post shortly before his arrest, Lamichhane denied the allegations against him and said he would: “fully cooperate in all stages of the investigation and will fight a legal battle to prove my innocence”.

On January 12 2022, a division bench of high court judges Dhruva Raj Nanda and Ramesh Dahal ruled that Lamichhane should be released on bail as the investigation continued. He was released from custody the following day but was barred from travelling abroad and required to inform police when he was leaving Kathmandu.

He subsequently returned to the Nepal international side earlier last year amid protests, in the Cricket World Cup League Two tri-series against Scotland and Namibia. Opposition players refused to shake his hand after the games, which led him not being considered for selection for Nepal’s following series.

Lamichhane challenged ruling of the high court in February 2023, petition the Nepal Supreme Court to lift the travel restrictions as part of his bail to allow him to play cricket internationally. The Supreme Court ruled in his favour and he was included in Nepal’s squads for the ODI World Cup Qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe last year, and in the Asia Cup.

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