Sandeep Lamichhane gets clean chit in rape case

The Patan High Court has acquitted cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane of rape.

A division bench of judges Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and Ranju Upreti Dhakal gave clean chit to Lamichhane overturning the order of the Kathmandu District Court.

The Kathmandu District Court on January 10 had sentenced Lamichhane to eight years in jail and slapped a fine of Rs 500,000 for raping a 17-year-old girl in Kathmandu hotel.

A single bench of judge Shishir Raj Dhakal, who was convicted of rape on December 29, delivered the verdict after the final hearing.

Later, he filed an appeal at the High Court on March claiming that he was innocent in the rape case.

After listening to the concluding statements of both sides, the judges also watched CCTV footage. The judges watched CCTV footage of Lamichhane and Gaushala-26 entering and exiting the hotel.

The Gaushala-26 claiming herself as a minor on September 7 had filed a rape against Lamichhane at the Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala.

The court, however, concluded that the girl, who filed the rape case, was not minor.

The girl in the complaint had said that she was raped at a hotel in Gaushala, Kathmandu.