Nepal court extends custody of star cricketer Lamichhane by five days

The Kathmandu District Court on Thursday extended the custody of star cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane by five days as he is being investigated for rape chargesLamichhane arrested earlier on October 6 at Tribhuwan International Airport has been in police custody since then Earlier the deadline for the investigation over the star cricketer ended on October 12The Police had requested for additional seven days of custody for investigation and further statement We requested the honourable court that seven days would be long and one side investigation has already been concluded so we asked for three day time but the court extended five days of custody The new deadline is the end of Ashwin October 17 Again on the first of Kartik that is October 18 he will be presented before the court We expect the Police would complete their investigation and bring their final report of the investigation Saroj Krishna Ghimire lawyer of Sandeep Lamichhane told reportersThe Kathmandu District Court had on October 13 granted permission to detain cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane who was arrested on rape charges for seven days for investigation Lamichhane has been claiming innocence in courtA teenage girl has alleged Sandeep of rape The police will be able to detain Sandeep for a maximum of 24 days for investigation A girl 17 filed a case alleging Lamichhane for taking her to various places in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur all day on August 21 and brought her to a hotel in Sinamangal of Kathmandu where she was raped the same nightAlso Read ED files charge sheet against Rana Ayyub says she used public funds for herselfA diffusion notice also was issued from INTERPOL International Criminal Police Organization as he was on large with his location unknown since the registration of the case against himThe Kathmandu District Court also has issued an arrest warrant against him over the case of raping a 17yearold minor along with the Immigration Department of the Himalayan Nation blacklisting himLast year leg spinner Lamichhane was appointed as the captain of the Nepal cricket team Lamichhane formerly captained the Nepal Under19 side first in 2016 during the Asia Cup and then in 2017 for the Asian Cricket Council World Cup Qualifier He has also played in the Indian Premier League IPLThe Police on the other hand after receiving the complaint has initiated an investigation under the National Penal Code Act 2017s Section 219The National Penal Code Act 2017 has criminalized the offence of rape under Chapter 18 Section 219 Section 219 2 defines rape as where any person has sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent or with a girl child below eighteen years of age even with her consent the person shall be considered to commit rape on such woman or girl childSection 219 2 a states that consent obtained by way of coercion undue influence intimidation threat misinterpretation or kidnapping or taking of hostage shall not be considered consent Furthermore section 219 2 b ensures that consent obtained at the time of being of unsoundness of mind shall not be considered consent If proven guilty Lamichhane would be facing imprisonment of 10 to 12 years