Breaking: Sri Lanka cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka arrested on charges of rape

Danushka Gunathilka (Source: Twitter)

Danushka Gunathilaka has been slapped with charges by the police after an apparent case of sexual assault which happened in Sydney East in Australia. He was arrested in the wee hours on Sunday Morning from the team hotel in Sydney’s Central Business District. This happened after a police investigation was carried out concerning 29-year-old women who was sexually assaulted at her residence in Rose Bay a week earlier.

Gunathilaka was no longer a part of the squad after Round 1 in the 20-20 World Cup due to a hamstring injury. A replacement filled in for him but he still stayed on with the Sri Lankan side in Australia. He has scored 1601 runs in ODIs and 741 runs in T20Is. He played only one match in the first stage of the 20-20 World Cup and got out for a duck against Namibia and played a warm-up match against Zimbabwe before he picked up the injury.

He was charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent: New South Wales Police

"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 Wednesday 2 November 2022," a New South Wales police statement said. "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 6 November 2022. "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."

Sri Lanka ended their 20-20 World Cup campaign on a sour note as they lost to England by four wickets. They had four points in their kitty in the 20-20 World Cup with two wins and three losses from five games. Sri Lanka had the campaign to forget in Australia after being Asia Cup champions a while back.