Danushka Gunathilaka denied bail by Sydney court in sexual assault case, SLC suspends him

The
Sri
Lankan
cricketer
–
who
was
arrested
in
the
wee
hours
of
Sunday
(November
6)
by
Sydney
police
–
attended
the
hearing
via
a
video
link
in
Downing
Centre
Local
Court
from
Surry
Hills
cells.

The
31-year-old
Gunathilaka
was
arrested
following
an
investigation
into
an
alleged
sexual
assault
of
a
woman
on
November
2.
According
to
a
report
in

Sydney
Morning
Herald,
Gunathilaka
was
handcuffed
and
wearing
a
grey
T-shirt,
blue
jeans
and
thongs
during
his
virtual
attendance
at
the
hearing.

According
to
a
report
in

The
Daily
Telegraph,
the
Sri
Lanka
cricketer
was
about
to
fly
out
of
the
country
when
police
swooped
in
and
charged
him.
NSW
Police
arrested
him
and
pulled
him
off
the
team’s
bus
in
the
driveway
of
a
Sydney
hotel
at
1
am
(local
time)
on
Sunday.

His
lawyer
Ananda
Amaranath
made
a
bail
application
during
the
“closed
court”
hearing
and
magistrate
Robert
Williams
refused
bail,
the
report
said.

“Certainly,
we
are
considering
an
application
to
the
Supreme
Court
and
that
will
be
done
as
soon
as
possible,”
Amaranth
was
quoted
as
saying
in
the
report.
“He’ll
be
disappointed,
clearly.”

The
Sri
Lankan
team
had
left
Australia
without
Gunathilaka
after
being
eliminated
from
the
T20
World
Cup
on
Saturday.
Amaranath
said
he
understood
“some
team
officials
remained
in
the
country”.
He
also
said
Gunathilaka
has
no
family
in
Australia.

The
left-handed
batter
played
against
Namibia
in
the
first-round
match
of
the
ongoing
showpiece
and
was
out
for
a
duck.
Later,
he
was
ruled
out
of
the
tournament
due
to
an
injury
even
as
the
team
qualified
for
the
Super
12
stage.
The
Lankan
team
finished
fourth
in
Group
1.

According
to
local
media
reports,
Gunathilaka
and
the
woman
were
in
touch
for
a
number
of
days
after
connecting
via
an
online
dating
app.
The
arrest
was
made
from
a
Sydney
hotel
just
a
few
hours
before
the
Sri
Lankan
team
left
Australia.
The
Sri
Lankan
government
has
asked
Sri
Lanka
Cricket
(SLC)
to
conduct
an
immediate
investigation.

The
SLC,
meanwhile,
has
suspended
the
cricketer
from
all
forms
of
cricket
with
immediate
effect.

“Sri
Lanka
Cricket
(SLC)
suspends
Danushka
Gunathilaka
from
all
forms
of
cricket
with
immediate
effect.
Gunathilaka
was
arrested
and
charged
with
sexual
assault
of
a
woman
in
Australia,”
the
board
said
in
a
statement
on
Monday.

“Furthermore,
Sri
Lanka
Cricket
will
take
the
necessary
steps
to
promptly
carry
out
an
inquiry
into
the
alleged
offence,
and,
upon
conclusion
of
the
aforementioned
court
case
in
Australia,
steps
will
be
taken
to
penalize
the
said
player
if
found
guilty.

“Sri
Lanka
Cricket
wishes
to
emphasise
that
it
adopts
a
“zero
tolerance”
policy
for
any
such
conduct
by
a
player
and
will
provide
all
the
required
support
to
the
Australian
law
enforcement
authorities
to
carry
out
an
impartial
inquiry
into
the
incident,”
it
added.

Gunathilaka
is
no
stranger
to
controversies.
In
2021,
he
was
suspended
by
SLC
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.

The
Board
had
also
handed
him
a
six-month
ban
in
2018
after
he
had
broken
the
team
curfew.
In
the
same
year,
Gunathilaka
was
also
suspended
after
his
unnamed
friend
was
accused
of
raping
a
Norwegian
woman.

In
2017,
the
board
suspended
him
for
six
limited-overs
games
after
it
found
out
about
Gunathilaka
missing
training
sessions
and
turning
up
for
a
game
without
his
cricket
gear.
He
has
represented
Sri
Lanka
in
eight
Tests,
47
ODIs
and
46
T20
Internationals.

(With
PTI
inputs)