Big Breaking: Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka Has three of four sexual assault charges dropped
Danushka Gunathilaka, a cricketer for Sri Lanka was charged with sexual assault on Thursday in Sydney after being accused of rape by a woman last year. The 32-year-old Gunathilaka was detained by Sydney police from the team hotel during the T20 World Cup last November on four counts of sexual activity without consent. He was charged in result.
In a Sydney court, the public prosecutor withdrew three of the charges. As, the 29-year-old woman and the Sri Lankan batter met on a dating app, according to the authorities. Following their date, the two went back to the woman’s Rose Bay house in Sydney, where Gunathilaka is accused of choking and raping her.
The remaining three counts of having sex without consent had been dropped, according to prosecutor Hugh Buddin of the Director of Public Prosecutions, who told the court one charge had been certified.
The Sri Lankan is also accused of engaging in “forceful” sexual activity with the woman, during which he allegedly “put one hand around her neck for 20 to 30 seconds and choked her,” according to the police facts sheet submitted to the Downing Centre Local Court.
#SriLankan cricketer #DanushkaGunathilaka, who was accused of rape by a woman last year, had three out of his four sexual assault charges dropped in #Sydney on Thursdayhttps://t.co/ZBNt938Lvy
— CricketNDTV (@CricketNDTV) May 18, 2023
Gunathilaka is accused of preventing the woman’s breathing for six seconds before she “tried to remove the accused’s hand by grabbing his wrist, but the accused squeezed tighter around her neck for a further 10 seconds”
According to the police fact sheet, the victim “was fearing for her life and could not get away from the accused.”
In the previous year’s T20 World Cup, Gunathilaka was a member of the Sri Lankan side. He only participated in their opening match against Namibia, though. Due to a torn hamstring, he was ruled out from the competition.
Having played for Sri Lanka in eight Tests, 47 ODIs, and 46 T20 Internationals, Gunathilaka is no stranger to controversy.
