Sandeep Lamichhane, the captain of Nepal’s cricket team, on Friday denied claims that he had sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl and said he would return home to defend himself. The 22-year-old, who participates in the Caribbean Premier League, has a warrant for his arrest from a Nepali court, and he has been demoted from his position of authority. This week, the adolescent girl and her parent filed a complaint against the footballer, claiming that he had sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in Kathmandu the month before after they had met and gone out.

“I am innocent and keep complete faith in the respectable laws of Nepal. I have decided to take a leave from CPL and go back to my country within a few days. I am ready to face all these baseless allegations. May justice be served to the innocent and right investigations to be done towards everyone involved. Hope the law acts equal to everyone,(SIC)”

Lamichhane tweeted

Lamichhane is presently competing with the Jamaica Tallawahs in the West Indies-based Caribbean Premier League. Lamichhane is the face of Nepal’s burgeoning one-day international cricket league, which was granted recognition in 2018 but is still a long way from competing in a World Cup.

His break came in 2018 when the Delhi Capitals signed him for the lucrative Indian Premier League.

Since then, he has become the most in-demand Nepali cricketer in international T20 tournaments.

A 17-year-old girl filed a complaint on Tuesday at the Gaushala Metropolitan Police Circle, accusing the 25-year-old spinner of repeatedly raping her. The Police launched an investigation into the complaint a day after receiving it, gathering CCTV footage and other pertinent pieces of evidence in accordance with the victim’s account.

Following the court’s issuance of the arrest order, the Nepal Police is getting ready to use the Nepal Cricket Association to return Lamicchane, who is currently playing for the West Indies in the Caribbean League.

According to Bharat Bahadur Bohora, the head of the district police force in Kathmandu, the police circle in the city’s Gaushala filed the complaint on Wednesday.

“The police are sensitive to such serious incidents. We have made the supposed survivor undergo a health checkup and launched an investigation,”

said Rabindra Prasad Dhanuk, the Kathmandu Valley Police Office chief

The young woman claimed to be a fan of the cricketer and to have communicated with him on WhatsApp and Snapchat. She claims that Lamichhane made the initial meeting proposal.

According to a media source here that mentioned the CAN authorities, Lamichhane claimed his innocence and refuted the accusations during a phone call with the CAN representatives.

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Police registered 2,300 rape incidents in Nepal during the most recent fiscal year, but human rights advocates contend that many more assaults go unreported. The accused have experienced little to no consequences as a result of the allegations, and just a small number of women in Nepal have spoken out during the #MeToo movement.

After an aspiring model posted a series of TikTok videos documenting abuse she experienced as a teenager, hundreds of people rallied in Kathmandu in support of stricter rules and enforcement in cases of sexual violence in May.