The court has demanded further documents to verify the birthdate of cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane who is accused of rape and to establish consistency with the birthdate of the victim and her family members.
The District Court of Kathmandu’s Chief Justice Rajukumar Khadka has ordered additional documents to confirm the birthdate.
The court order issued on Tuesday instructs the victim Gau shala 26 to send a certified copy of the verified page of her birth registration book to the local authorities for verification.
The court’s decision is based on the presentation of documents from the accused party that claim inconsistencies in the victims age.
The court had previously ordered the submission of documents including the victims birth registration book and other papers to establish her age and relationship with the accused.
However the accused party presented documents that raised doubts about the victims age leading to the court’s request for further verification.
The ongoing dispute over the victims age has become the main focus in the case involving alleged rape by Sandeep Lamichhane.
The defense claims that the victim is underage while the Nepali government argues that she is over 18. The victims birth registration book from a local authority in Nuwakot claims that she was born on Asar 18, 2061 BS.
The accused party on the other hand, maintains that the victims birthdate is Asar 18, 2062 BS making her underage at the time of the alleged incident. The Muluki Criminal Code 2074 BS, Section 219 stipulates that even consensual sexual relations with a person under 18 years of age is considered a crime regardless of the circumstances.
However if the person is over 18 years old consensual sexual relations are permissible under the law.
While the legal battle continues the defense has also raised concerns about the release of private information through media outlets, which they claim might have an adverse impact on the case.
The court order specifically instructs both parties to exercise caution when discussing the case in the media, to avoid negatively influencing the legal proceedings.
In addition, the Supreme Court had previously ordered that Sandeep Lamichhane not be detained, considering primarily the unresolved dispute over his age. Despite this the District Court of Kathmandu had set a final hearing date of August 17 for the case.
However since the dispute over the victims age remains unresolved the court has ordered additional document verification.
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