Nepalese cricket star Sandeep Lamichhane on Sunday defended failing to return home to face rape allegations almost three weeks after an arrest warrant was issued, saying he intends to do so “as soon as possible.”
A Nepalese court issued the warrant on Sept. 8 following an allegation by a 17-year-old girl, but Lamichhane is thought to have remained in the Caribbean, where he was playing in a tournament.
With police believed to be preparing to file an arrest warrant with Interpol, Lamichhane issued a statement on social media reiterating that the claims against him were baseless.
Photo: AFP
“News of the arrest warrant issued against me ... made me mentally disturbed. I could not think what to do and what not to do,” he wrote.
“My health condition is gradually improving and I am planning to return to Nepal as soon as possible to vehemently fight back” against the allegations, he added.
Lamichhane, 22, had been a poster boy for the rise of cricket in mountainous Nepal, which gained one-day international status in 2018.
The leg spinner’s big break came when he was snapped up by the Delhi Capitals for the money-spinning Indian Premier League in 2018, and he has since been Nepal’s most-sought-after cricketer.
After the arrest warrant he was suspended as captain of the national team, and the player pulled out of the Caribbean Premier League, where he was playing for Jamaica Tallawahs.
The social media post did not reveal his whereabouts, but he is believed to still be in the Caribbean.
The teenage girl, along with her guardian, filed a complaint against the player earlier this month, alleging that he raped her in a Kathmandu hotel room last month.
Nepalese police official Bharat Bohora yesterday declined to comment on Lamichhane’s latest comments, saying that investigators have had no contact with the cricketer.
“The police is investigating the rape complaint filed against Sandeep Lamichhane. The investigation is on a preliminary stage,” Bohora said.
The accusations against the cricketer come after popular Nepalese actor Paul Shah was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison this month for sexual misconduct with a minor.
About 2,300 rape cases were reported in Nepal in the past fiscal year, police said, but rights workers say many more assaults go unreported.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite