Sri Lanka have been ruled out of the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022 and the team faced a crushing defeat in the nail-biting clash against England on November 5, Saturday. As things stand, their star cricketer, Danushka Gunathilaka, who was ruled out of the showpiece event, was arrested on Sunday by the Sydney Police on the charges of rape filed by a 29-year-old woman.
After being replaced by Ashen Bandara in the squad, the batter stayed with the team and the batter was arrested from the team hotel in Sydney’s Central Business District, much to the disappointment of the team management and Sri Lankan fans.
“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,” ESPN quoted New South Wales police as saying in a statement.
“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 today,” the statement read further.
Rape charges in 2018 for Sri Lanka batter
However, this was not the first time that Gunathilaka was arrested on rape charges as the batter hit the headlines for the same in 2018. The southpaw was, however, found innocent of the allegations and was allowed to pursue his career in cricket.
While the 31-year-old is expected to be produced in court, his teammates and the management, have left the country leaving him behind. The left-handed batter made his debut for the Island Nation in 2015 and since then, he has appeared in 5 Tests, 46 T20Is and 47 ODIs with over 2500 runs across all formats.
