Sri Lanka T20 cricketer arrested for rape in Sydney

Sri Lanka cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka, who was in the island nation’s T20 World Cup team playing in Australia, has been arrested in Sydney on charges of sexual assault.

“Daushka Gunathilaka has been arrested for an alleged rape. The Sri Lankan team has left Australia without him,” news agency PTI cited a Sri Lankan team source as saying. The Sri Lankan team was eliminated from the tournament after losing to England on Sunday.

The New South Wales police, on its website, has also mentioned about the arrest of an unnamed Sri Lankan national.

“Sex Crimes Squad detectives have charged a Sri Lankan national following an investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Sydney’s east last week,” the report said.

According to details on the wesbite, a 29-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted at a residence in Rose Bay earlier this week.

“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.

“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 1am today (6 November 2022),” the report added.

The left-handed batter played against Namibia in the first round match of the ongoing T20 World Cup and was out for a duck.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has not issued any statement on the matter as yet.