KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 23

Kathmandu District Court extended the remand of suspended captain of Nepali National Cricket Team Sandeep Lamichhane by two more days. He will now have to spend this Tihar behind bars as the court will remain closed due to Tihar holiday from tomorrow.

Metropolitan Police Crime Division presented Lamichhane at the court for the fourth time seeking more days for investigation into the alleged rape of a minor girl.

Lamichhane is facing a rape charge from a 17-year-old girl. Police can legally hold any rape accused for maximum 25 days in judicial custody to probe the charge with permission from the court. But, due to Tihar holidays, police will be producing Lamichhane at the court on October 31.

Lamichhane's lawyer Saroj Ghimire told media tthat police was deliberately prolonging the investigation. Ghimire had told THT earlier that police had recorded statements of both the plaintiff and defendant.

Recording his statement, Lamichhane denied the rape charge saying it was a conspiracy against him. But he has admitted that he had stayed in a hotel room on the night of August 21 with the girl who accused him of rape.

Lamichhane has been in police custody from October 6 after he was arrested at Tribhuvan International Airport on October 6. Police need to produce a rape accused before the court within 25 days from the day of arrest to begin hearing of the case.

On September 6, a girl along with her guardian (her elder brother) had filed a complaint against Lamichhane at Gausala Police Circle. The girl accused him of raping her in a hotel room in Sinamangal on the night of August 21. Lamichhane left the hotel early morning the very next day for Kenya to participate in the Cricket T-20 series in Nairobi. Later he travelled to the West Indies to participate in the Caribbean Premier League.

Lamichhane faced the charge while he was captain of the national cricket team. Later, the Cricket Association of Nepal suspended him from the national squad after an arrest warrant was issued. If proven guilty, Lamichhane could get imprisonment up to 12 years.

A version of this article appears in the print on October 24, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.