Cricket Association of Nepal Suspends Sandeep Lamichhane after Arrest Warrant issued against him for Raping Minor

On Thursday (September 8), The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) suspended star cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, who has been accused of raping a minor girl. The skipper of the Nepal national cricket team also had an arrest warrant issued by the Nepal court.

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Acting secretary of CAN, Prashant Bikram Malla said in an official press release, that the decision was taken after an arrest warrant was issued against Lamichhane on the charge of raping a minor girl. The decision came hours after the Kathmandu District Court issued the arrest warrant against Lamichhane, as demanded by the police who are investigating the rape charge.

Earlier, a minor girl had filed a complaint against Lamichhane accusing him of rape in a hotel room in Kathmandu last month after they met and went out. The police had asked the court to grant permission to arrest Lamichhane for investigation.

After the complaint, he was handed an arrest warrant on Thursday (September 8). 

"The district court has issued an arrest warrant against Sandeep Lamichhane for further investigation," Dinesh Mainali, a spokesman for Kathmandu district police," told AFP.

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Police said Wednesday that they might seek the assistance of law enforcement overseas, or Interpol if he was not in Nepal.

After the suspension, Sandeep Lamichhane came up with a post on his Twitter handle

Lamichhane, 22, posted on his Twitter that he has decided to take a leave from Caribbean Premier League (CPL). He is also returning back to his nation to face all allegations which he termed as "baseless".

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The leg-spinner is currently in the West Indies, participating in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL 2022) for Jamaica Tallawahs. According to CAN, he has denied the rape accusation and requested the national cricketing body for legal assistance.

However, he made his international debut in May 2018, after which he represented Nepal in 30 ODIs and 44 T20Is. In December 2021, Lamichhane replaced Gyanendra Malla as Nepal's captain. He is currently the sixth-youngest man to captain an ODI team. Lamichhane is also currently the second-fastest man to 50 ODI wickets and the third-fastest man to 50 T20I wickets.