KATHMANDU — The Kathmandu District Court has ordered to produce proof of the birth of the victim of rape, accused cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane.Sandeep’s lawyer Saroj Kumar Ghimire informed that on Tuesday, the bench of Judge Himalal Belbase ordered to produce the birth certificate of the victim.
Lamichhane is accused of raping a minor (under 18). But Sandeep’s side has been saying that the girl is not under 18 years of age. After a dispute regarding his age, the bench ordered the removal of his birth record from the hospital.
Similarly, the bench has also ordered another cricketer, Dev Khanal, and the doctor who conducted the medical to be released. Ghimire, a legal practitioner, said the court continued the same order and ordered them removed as they did not come even when they were called earlier. They have also been asked to submit their bank papers by the 25th of January.
It is alleged that Sandeep took the 17-year-old minor to a hotel in Kathmandu on August 5 and raped him twice. On August 6, he went to Kenya to play a T20 match. On August 21, the minor victim filed a complaint at Gaushala police station, saying she was raped.
At that time, the accused, Lamichhane was in Kenya. From there, he went to the West Indies to play in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). After an arrest warrant was issued against him, he did not return to Nepal, and the police issued a diffusion notice through Interpol.
Sandeep Lamichhane was arrested by the police on October 20 at Tribhuvan International Airport.
The police investigated him under Section 219 of the Criminal Code and Section 18 of the Criminal Code, which does not require coercion. According to sub-section 3 (d), it has also demanded imprisonment of up to 12 years.
In (d) of the said sub-section, there is a provision of imprisonment from 10 years to 12 years if the woman is 16 years old or more than 16 years old and less than 18 years old.
