Kathmandu District Court on Wednesday sentenced cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane to eight years in jail and imposed a fine of half a million rupees for raping a girl in 2022.

A single bench of judge Shishir Raj Dhakal, which had convicted the former captain of the national cricket team on December 29, pronounced the jail term and fine after further hearing.

The jail term and penalty were determined considering the age of Gaushala-26, the name given to the victim, the social status of the accused when the incident happened and the mental stress the victim had to endure, according to Chandra Prasad Panthi, information officer at the district court. “Eight years of jail term was determined as per Section 219 3 (e) of the Criminal Code Procedure while the financial penalty was fixed as per Section 228,” Panthi said.

The half a million rupees—of which Rs300,000 is fine and the remaining compensation—would be paid to the victim.

A person convicted under Section 219 could face a jail term between seven and 10 years. On Wednesday, Lamichhane’s lawyers demanded the lowest possible punishment, asking the court to consider his contribution to the country through cricket and his social standing. The victim’s lawyers, however, had asked his jail term be increased by at least 50 percent as he had misused his celebrity status.

Lamichhane’s lawyers have already announced that they will challenge the district court’s ruling in high court. Even though he has been convicted, Lamichhane can continue his legal fight without being arrested.

“Sandeep is not guilty. We are against the verdict,” said advocate Saroj Krishna Ghimire, Lamichhane’s lawyer. “We will challenge the verdict in the high court.”

After a 15-month-long judicial process, the court on December 29 convicted Lamichhane of raping the girl in a Tilganga-based hotel on August 21, 2022. After hearing the lawyers on both sides, the court ruled there was no dispute that Lamichhane and the victim had stayed in the same room of the hotel where she was raped.

“The accused had raped the victim taking advantage of her poor economic condition,” the verdict said.

The court, however, had dismissed the victim's claim that she was a minor at the time. The court has also refused to accept the birth dates mentioned in her academic documents, which show she was 17 at the time of the incident.

“After evaluating Gaushala 26’s birth registration at Raluka VDC, Nuwakot, migration registration at Shankarapur Municipality, Kathmandu, birth registration at Narayani Sub-regional Hospital, Birgunj and her own statement, the court determines that she was born on July 4, 2004, and was 18 years old when the incident happened,” the court had said.

The victim’s lawyers said they were not satisfied with the court’s pronouncement that the victim was an adult at the time of the incident. “Existing documents clearly show the victim was 17 when the incident happened,” senior advocate Sunita Regmi, who fought the case on behalf of the victim, told the Post. “I believe the government will also challenge the district court’s ruling in the high court.”

Gaushala-26 had lodged her complaint against Lamichhane on September 6, 2022, two weeks after the incident.

When the investigation started, Lamichhane was in the West Indies to play in the Caribbean Premier League. He was arrested from the Tribhuvan International Airport upon his return on October 6, 2022.

On November 4 last year, the Kathmandu District Court ordered that Lamichhane be sent to the Sundhara-based Central Jail after a detention hearing.

Lamichhane had moved the high court, challenging the order.

On January 12, a division bench of high court judges Dhruva Raj Nanda and Ramesh Dahal decided to release him on bail while the investigation continued. Following the verdict, Lamichhane was released from custody on January 13 after posting a bail of two million rupees. The court, however, had barred him from travelling abroad and ordered him to inform the police beforehand if he had to leave Kathmandu.

Dissatisfied with the travel restrictions, Lamichhane moved the Supreme Court, challenging the high court’s decision. On February 27, a division bench of justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Kumar Chudal had ruled in favour of the cricketer’s petition, allowing him to travel abroad to play cricket.