KATHMANDU, Oct 8: The Office of the Attorney General Nepal (OAGN) has decided not to appeal the rape case against cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane.
The spokesperson for the OAGN, Surya Raj Dahal, said that they have decided not to appeal to the Supreme Court as they are satisfied with the High Court's decision.
“If the High Court's decision is satisfactory, the Government of Nepal will not appeal, and that decision will remain unchanged,” he said. “Since we are satisfied with the High Court's decision, we have decided not to appeal in the case of cricketer Lamichhane,” Dahal added.
Gaushala 26 opts not to appeal against Sandeep Lamichhane's acq...
The OAGN announced that it has decided not to appeal in the case against cricketer Lamichhane, considering the High Court's decision as correct. The joint bench of High Court judges Sudarshan Dev Bhatta and Anju Upreti Dhakal had acquitted Lamichhane on May 15, stating that there was insufficient basis and evidence against him. The full text of the judgment in this case was made public on July 19.
The full text of the verdict states, "Based on the grounds and reasons, the defendant Sandeep Lamichhane's statements during the investigation and in court, the messages sent by Gausala-26, her physical examination report, her physical condition, the evidence collected from the crime scene, the details of the incident provided by the security guard Rajan Rana at the Hotel Kathmandu Inn, and the circumstantial evidence attached to the case did not substantiate the allegations against the appellant defendant."
The verdict mentions that the victim did not show any signs of resisting, crying out, or seeking help from a third party for self-defense. It also states that the facts mentioned in the case support the principle established by the Supreme Court, which holds that consensual sexual relations between individuals of legal age are not considered rape, contrary to the definition of forced sexual intercourse.
The full text of the verdict states, "The victim requested financial protection from the defendant, who later said he would help as much as he could but ultimately provided no assistance and left for Kenya. This sequence of events does not allow us to outright deny the possibility that the defendant may have been reported for such a heinous crime in a fit of anger." The verdict also mentions that although the victim accused the defendant of rape, it appears that the victim had already turned 18 at the time of the incident.
The court found that the evidence, including the script of the attached CCTV footage, did not conclusively support the allegations against the defendant. After analyzing the events, such as the victim and the defendant traveling to Nagarkot in the defendant's car from near the hostel, staying at Kathmandu Hotel Inn at night, and the defendant dropping the victim off at her hostel the next day, it concluded that there was no basis to consider this as a case of rape.
The bench of Judge Shishir Raj Dhakal at the Kathmandu District Court had issued verdict on January 10 to sentence Sandeep Lamichhane to eight years in prison, along with a fine and compensation amounting to Rs 500,000, citing that he took advantage of the weak financial condition of the victim Gaushala-26. Lamichhane had appealed against this decision in the Patan High Court, which after hearing the case, ruled in his favor.
Sandeep Lamichhane was arrested on October 6, 2022 from Tribhuvan International Airport after a complaint was filed against him on September 6, 2022, for the charge of rape of Gaushala-26. Following the government's decision not to appeal in the case, the decision of the Patan High Court will remain in effect.
