<p>Fugitive cricket star Sandeep Lamichhane returned to Nepal on Thursday to face rape charges nearly a month after an arrest warrant was issued.</p>.<p>Lamichhane, who denies the charges, was immediately taken into custody, Dinesh Raj Mainali, a spokesman for Kathmandu district police, told <em>AFP</em>.</p>.<p>Earlier Lamichhane had posted on his Facebook page that he was returning home to fight the accusations.</p>.<p>"I will fully cooperate in all stages of investigation and will fight legal battle to prove my innocence. Let the justice prevail," Lamichhane posted.</p>.<p>Lamichhane was suspended as Nepal's cricket captain after a court in the country issued the arrest warrant on September 8.</p>.<p>It followed an accusation from a 17-year-old that the 22-year-old had raped her in a Kathmandu hotel room in August.</p>.<p>Lamichhane failed to return to Nepal from Jamaica where he was playing in the Caribbean Premier League.</p>.<p>He has been a poster boy for the rise of cricket in mountainous Nepal, which gained one-day international status by the world governing body in 2018.</p>.<p>The leg spinner's big break came when he was snapped up by the Delhi Capitals for the lucrative Indian Premier League in 2018.</p>.<p>He has since been the most sought-after Nepali cricketer in international Twenty20 leagues.</p>.<p>Lamichhane last month issued a statement on social media reiterating that the claims against him were baseless, and defended his decision not to return to Nepal.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>"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)."</p>.<p>Soon afterwards Nepali police said they had sought help from Interpol with a "diffusion" notice asking member countries for their cooperation in bringing Lamichhane back to the country to face charges.</p>.<p>About 2,300 rape cases were reported in Nepal in the last fiscal year, according to police, but rights workers say many more assaults go unreported.</p>.<p>Only a handful of women in Nepal spoke out during the #MeToo movement and the accused have faced little or no repercussions over the allegations.</p>.<p>The accusations against Lamichhane come after the recent conviction of popular Nepali actor Paul Shah for sexual misconduct with a minor.</p>.<p>He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and ordered to pay his victim compensation.</p>.<p>In May, hundreds protested in Kathmandu for better laws and enforcement in cases of sexual violence after an aspiring model posted a series of TikTok videos detailing abuse when she was a teenager.</p>
<p>Fugitive cricket star Sandeep Lamichhane returned to Nepal on Thursday to face rape charges nearly a month after an arrest warrant was issued.</p>.<p>Lamichhane, who denies the charges, was immediately taken into custody, Dinesh Raj Mainali, a spokesman for Kathmandu district police, told <em>AFP</em>.</p>.<p>Earlier Lamichhane had posted on his Facebook page that he was returning home to fight the accusations.</p>.<p>"I will fully cooperate in all stages of investigation and will fight legal battle to prove my innocence. Let the justice prevail," Lamichhane posted.</p>.<p>Lamichhane was suspended as Nepal's cricket captain after a court in the country issued the arrest warrant on September 8.</p>.<p>It followed an accusation from a 17-year-old that the 22-year-old had raped her in a Kathmandu hotel room in August.</p>.<p>Lamichhane failed to return to Nepal from Jamaica where he was playing in the Caribbean Premier League.</p>.<p>He has been a poster boy for the rise of cricket in mountainous Nepal, which gained one-day international status by the world governing body in 2018.</p>.<p>The leg spinner's big break came when he was snapped up by the Delhi Capitals for the lucrative Indian Premier League in 2018.</p>.<p>He has since been the most sought-after Nepali cricketer in international Twenty20 leagues.</p>.<p>Lamichhane last month issued a statement on social media reiterating that the claims against him were baseless, and defended his decision not to return to Nepal.</p>.<p>"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.</p>.<p>"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)."</p>.<p>Soon afterwards Nepali police said they had sought help from Interpol with a "diffusion" notice asking member countries for their cooperation in bringing Lamichhane back to the country to face charges.</p>.<p>About 2,300 rape cases were reported in Nepal in the last fiscal year, according to police, but rights workers say many more assaults go unreported.</p>.<p>Only a handful of women in Nepal spoke out during the #MeToo movement and the accused have faced little or no repercussions over the allegations.</p>.<p>The accusations against Lamichhane come after the recent conviction of popular Nepali actor Paul Shah for sexual misconduct with a minor.</p>.<p>He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and ordered to pay his victim compensation.</p>.<p>In May, hundreds protested in Kathmandu for better laws and enforcement in cases of sexual violence after an aspiring model posted a series of TikTok videos detailing abuse when she was a teenager.</p>