Sri Lankan T20 World Cup player charged with rape in Sydney
- 06 Nov 2022
Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka has been charged over the sexual assault of a woman after being arrested in his Sydney hotel early on Sunday.
Police said detectives began an investigation on Saturday after receiving reports that a 29-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted at a Rose Bay home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs earlier in the week.
They alleged the woman met Gunathilaka, who was in Sydney for the Twenty20 World Cup, after communicating with him for several days on a dating app before the assault on Wednesday.
New South Wales police said the 31-year-old cricketer was charged with four counts of physical relations without consent. He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court via video link and is expected to face court on Monday.
Gunathilaka travelled to Australia with Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup team but didn’t play after being ruled out of the competition with a hamstring tear.
The left-handed batsman has played nearly 100 T20 and one-day internationals for Sri Lanka as well as eight test matches.
Sri Lanka lost its final group match to England on Saturday in the T20 World Cup and left for home on Sunday.
Associated Press