Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka was arrested in Sydney on Saturday on rape charges. Australian police have charged Gunathilaka with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent, local media reported.
Gunathilaka was a member of the Sri Lanka T20 World Cup squad but was injured three weeks ago. The 31-year-old left-handed opener was replaced by Ashen Bandara in the Lankan squad. However, he wasn’t sent back home as the team management kept him with the squad. The Sri Lanka team left for home on Sunday morning without him after being knocked out of the T20 World Cup.
Gunathilaka was arrested in Sydney from the hotel in connection with an alleged sexual assault complaint filed by a 29-year-old woman. The alleged assault reportedly took place at a property in Rose Bay, New South Wales earlier in the week on Wednesday.
“The woman met with the man after communicating with him for a number of days via an online dating application; it’s alleged he then sexually assaulted her on the evening of November 2, 2022. As part of ongoing investigations, a crime scene examination was undertaken by specialist police at an address in Rose Bay yesterday. Following further inquiries, a 31-year-old man was arrested at a hotel on Sussex Street, Sydney, shortly before 1 am today (Sunday, November 6, 2022)," New South Wales police were reported to have said in a statement.
"He was taken to Sydney City Police Station and charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent. The Sri Lankan national was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court via AVL [audio visual links] today," the statement further said.
Gunathilaka was withdrawn from the Sri Lanka squad due to a hamstring injury. The left-handed batsman made his international debut back in 2015 and has featured for Sri Lanka in eight Test matches, 47 ODIs and 46 T20Is.
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(With inputs from agencies)
