Danushka Gunathilaka rape case: Three out of four sexual assault charges dropped
Danushka Gunathilaka was involved in a rape case in Sydney last November. While he has been on trial in the country since then, on Thursday, three of the four sexual assault charges have been dropped against him.
FollowSri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka, accused of rape by a woman last year, had three of his four sexual assault charges dropped in Syndey on Thursday. Gunathilaka was charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent for which the 32-year-old had been arrested by the Sydney police from the team hotel last November during the ICC T20 World Cup.
However, the public prosecutor withdrew three charges in a Sydney court. According to the police, the Sri Lankan batter and the 29-year-old woman met via a dating app. After their date, the two returned to the woman's home at Sydney's Rose Bay, where Gunathilaka allegedly choked and raped her. "Prosecutor Hugh Buddin, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court one charge had been certified, but the three counts of sexual intercourse without consent had been withdrawn," the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
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The remaining charge, according to the police facts sheet filed with the Downing Centre Local Court, is that the Sri Lankan engaged in "forceful" sexual intercourse, during which he allegedly "put one hand around her neck for 20 to 30 seconds and choked her". Gunathilaka allegedly restricted 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 10 seconds".
The woman "was fearing for her life and could not get away from the accused," according to the police facts sheet. Gunathilaka was part of the Sri Lankan team for the T20WC team last year. However, he only played in their first game against Namibia. He was ruled out of the tournament due to a hamstring tear.
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Gunathilaka, who has represented Sri Lanka in eight Tests, 47 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 46 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), is no stranger to controversies. In 2021, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) suspended him for one year after he breached the team's bio-secure bubble on the tour of England along with teammates Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella.
SLC also handed him a six-month ban in 2018 after he had broken the team curfew. The same year, Gunathilaka was suspended after his unnamed friend was accused of raping a Norwegian woman. In 2017, the board suspended him for six limited-overs games after learning about Gunathilaka missing training sessions and turning up for a game without his cricket gear.
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