Three of four sexual charges dropped for Sri Lanka batter Danusha Gunathilaka in Sydney
Danushka Gunathilaka (Source: Twitter)
After being accused of raping a woman in Sydney, Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka had three of four sexual assault charges against him. The public prosecutor dismissed three of the four allegations of sexual activity without consent against the 32-year-old in a Sydney court on Thursday. The defendant was in Sydney for the 20-20 World Cup. In November 2022, the batter reportedly went on a date with the 29-year-old lady before raping her when they got home to Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
The victim “was fearing for her life and could not get away from the accused” during the November 2022 incident, according to a police fact document submitted to the court. Last month, the prosecution successfully requested an extension, extending the hearing over the six-month deadline for charge certification. Alen Sahinovic, the lawyer representing Gunathilaka, contested the delay, claiming that his client was experiencing excessive difficulty as a foreign national with strict bail requirements and little access to family and social support.
Danushka Gunathila banned from using social media
Gunathilaka went with Sri Lanka’s 20-20 World Cup squad on their trip to Australia in 2017, however, he only got to participate in one game before suffering a hamstring injury that forced him to pull out from the tournament. He was taken into custody early on November 6 at Sydney’s Hyatt Regency Hotel, just before he was supposed to fly home with the rest of the team after they were eliminated from the competition. On July 13, he will return to court to enter a plea.
Before Christmas of last year, the cricketer was given permission to relocate into a one-bedroom flat in Sydney’s inner west. As a condition of his bail, Gunathilaka previously gave up his passport and was told not to approach any foreign departure point. His bail was supported by a $50,000 contribution from the cricketer and a $150,000 surety from a “friend of a friend.”
When Gunathilaka was given bail in November 2022, he was first forbidden from accessing Tinder and other social media sites. In order to allow him to return use WhatsApp, a secure messaging app owned by Facebook parent Meta and widely used in his nation, and go out at night, his bail terms were changed in February.
