Nepal cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane jailed for 8 years after being convicted of rape
Kathmandu: Nepal spinner Sandeep Lamichhane has been sentenced to eight years in jail by a Kathmandu court after being convicted of rape.
According to Kathmandu Post, the Kathmandu District Court announced the verdict on Wednesday after he was proven guilty of raping an 18-year-old girl.
A single-judge bench also imposed a Rs 3,00,000 fine on the 23-year-old, besides ordering him to pay a compensation of Rs 2,00,000 to the victim.
Lamichhane's lawyer Saroj Ghimire was quoted as saying that he "will appeal the decision in a higher court".
In September last year, an arrest warrant was issued by the Kathmandu police for Lamichhane, leading to his suspension as the Nepal captain by the Cricket Association of Nepal.
Although he was playing in the Caribbean Premier League for Jamaica Tallawahs, the franchise released him with immediate effect, as he returned to Kathmandu, where he was arrested.
However, Lamichhane pleaded innocent before his arrest and wrote on Facebook that he would "fully cooperate in all stages of the investigation and will fight a legal battle to prove my innocence", besides calling it "conspiracy and wrongful allegation".
Although he was reconsidered for Nepal during the Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series at home last February, he was dropped for the World Cup League 2 tri-series in Dubai later last year before rejoining the side as an injury replacement.
Lamichhane has since played for Nepal in the ODI World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe last June-July, followed by the Asia Cup in August-September.
He has scalped over 100 wickets in over 100 white-ball matches for Nepal. He has also had a brief stint in the Indian Premier League with Delhi Capitals between 2018-20, bagging 13 wickets in nine fixtures.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Niqab incident: Nitish Kumar perhaps revealing his true colours, says J-K CM
Srinagar (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday criticised his Bihar counterpart over the niqab incident and said that Nitish Kumar might be slowly revealing his true nature.
"Nitish Kumar, who was once considered a secular leader, may be slowly showing his true colours," Abdullah told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.
Abdullah said Kumar removing the face veil of a Muslim woman doctor was wrong and cannot be justified by any means.
"We have seen this kind of incident here several years ago. Have you forgotten how Mehbooba Mufti removed the burqa of a legitimate voter inside a polling station? That act was wrong, and this act (of Kumar) is also wrong.
"If the (Bihar) chief minister did not want to hand over the order to her (Muslim woman), they could have kept her aside. However, to humiliate her like this is totally wrong," the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.
Kumar stirred a huge controversy after he removed the face veil of a Muslim woman at a function earlier this week.
