Sandeep Lamichhane, the former captain of the Nepali national cricket team, has said that he will return to Nepal on October 6 to face the legal charges against him.

“With great hope and strength, I hereby confirm that I am reaching to my home country Nepal on this 6th October 2022 and will submit myself to the authority of Nepal to fight a legal battle against false allegation,” Lamichhane, who is accused of raping a minor, said in a Facebook post Saturday morning.

Stating that he has faith in the justice system, Lamichhane has claimed that he will be found innocent. He said, “I have recovered from the unpleasant situation I went through and I have prepared myself to go through this ordeal to prove myself innocent and a victim of conspiracy.”

On Sunday, Lamichhane had said through social media that he was innocent and would return to Nepal in a few days.

Earlier, Nepal Police had issued a diffusion notice through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) against him.

A 17-year-old girl had filed a complaint against Lamichhane at the Police Circle, Gaushala in Kathmandu on September 6. According to police, 22-year-old Lamichhane had allegedly taken the girl to various places in Kathmandu and Nagarkot on August 21 and raped her in a hotel room the same night.

Kathmandu District Court subsequently issued an arrest warrant against Lamichhane on September 8. That very day, Lamichhane took to social media to claim that he was innocent and would return to Nepal to fight the legal battle.

Soon after the allegation, Nepal’s cricket governing body suspended Lamichhane from the national team.