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Delhi: There is a lot of discussion about Abhishek Porel's case these days. He was arrested by the police on the allegation that he promised to marry a woman and had relations with her. There is even a complaint against this wicketkeeper-batsman for rape as well as death threats, forced confinement, making obscene videos, abuse and fraud. This case is yet to be heard in the court. Both of them knew each other since 2023. The layers of truth of this case will be revealed later but recently such allegations against cricketers have once again come into discussion. Let us see 5 more famous cases of recent years:

1.Alex Hepburn (England, 2019): Alex Hepburn from Worcestershire County was not only accused of raping a woman in England in 2017, he was also convicted in the case. This case was very strange because the woman had consensual sex with Hepburn's co-star Joe Clark, but accused Hepburn of sneaking into the bedroom and having sex without consent. Hepburn denied the charge but was found guilty in court and received a five-year prison sentence, of which he served two years. This case had raised the issue of curse of friendship on social media. These three were also introduced as members of a group. After this the ECB banned him from playing cricket for 10 years.

2. Makhaya Ntini (South Africa, 1999): The case of this South African fast bowler was also in the news in the world because it was strange. In 1999, he was convicted of the rape of a student in Buffalo Park, East London, and received a 6-year prison sentence. After being proven guilty, he was dropped from the World Cup team by South Africa and his international cricket career was also questioned. Makhaya always maintained that he was not guilty and hence, despite not having full support, he appealed to the High Court and his sentence was quashed there. This case started a new debate and the haste in giving the verdict in the famous case was highly criticized.

3. Scott Kuggeleijn (New Zealand, 2015–17): Scott was accused of rape in this Hamilton case in 2015 and two cases were tried. In the first case there was a big discussion of 'hung jury' (no verdict) and in the second case there was a lot of discussion. In February 2017, a second jury acquitted him. Scott said that relations were formed but with mutual consent. Later, whenever he was selected in the New Zealand team, there was controversy and it was generally believed that he was guilty but was cleverly saved. The case raised major questions over cricket's handling of the allegations, although Kuggeleijn was legally acquitted.

4. Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal, 2022–24): In 2022, when a girl accused Sandeep of rape, he was arrested. The Kathmandu court initially convicted him and sentenced him to 8 years in prison in January 2024. Also ordered to pay fine and compensation. Lamichhane appealed this decision and in May 2024, the High Court acquitted him. This case had a big impact on Nepal cricket because Lamichhane was their most important player and he was suspended from cricket during the case. If acquitted, he could resume his international career.

5. Danushka Gunatilaka (Sri Lanka, 2022–23): This Sri Lankan international cricketer was arrested in Sydney in November 2022. He was in Sri Lanka's T20 World Cup team but was not playing due to injury. This story is from those days and the Australian police charged him with four counts of having sexual intercourse without consent with a woman he met through a dating app. Later three charges were dropped. Even then Gunathilaka did not accept the allegations. In September 2023, he was declared innocent after a trial without a jury in Sydney's Downing Center District Court. After this, Sri Lanka Cricket lifted his suspension. While the case was going on, Gunathilaka was detained in Australia.

It is clear from these cases that in every case the allegations were not proved as per the criteria of the court. An arrest, FIR or charge does not mean that the person is guilty unless the court finds the charge to be true.