Kushan Palliyaguruge shows no remorse after raping young woman

A man who led a woman from a Ringwood nightclub, took her to his house and raped her did not even feign remorse to the Judge.

Palliyaguruge led his victim from Orange Whip Nightclub in Ringwood.

A man who took an intoxicated young woman to his house and raped her, as she cried and called for her mum, has no remorse over the incident, a court has heard.

Kushan Palliyaguruge, 28, fronted the County Court on Thursday for a second plea hearing after he was previously found guilty of rape by a jury.

Palliyaguruge walked the teenager out of Ringwood’s Orange Whip Nightclub about 2.30am on December 16, 2018 and helped her into his car.

He had only just met the woman, who had been sitting alone on a couch when a security guard went to check if she was all right

Palliyaguruge went up to the security guard and claimed the woman was his girlfriend, and the woman told the security guard he was her friend.

The security guard said the woman had “too much to drink” and Palliyaguruge said he would take her home, escorting her outside with his arm around her.

The woman later told police she didn’t remember leaving the nightclub but had thought she was getting into an Uber when she got into Palliyaguruge’s car.

She then remembered sitting behind the driver’s seat as he drove, while he reached around and assaulted her.

According to court documents, the woman then remembered crying and saying she wanted to go home, and Palliyaguruge responding, “We’ll quickly go to my house for a f**k”.

She then cried and asked for her mum and her phone — which he had.

Palliyaguruge then pulled over and assaulted her in the back seat before he pulled her into his house about 3.12am.

The woman remembered stumbling and not being able to see very well as he held her up and “dragged” her into the house.

He then raped her and she asked for her phone and purse back.

The woman called a friend when she got her phone and told them she had been raped before she went up to Palliyaguruge and asked, “Can I go home now?”

She cried and called for her mum as she got back in his car and he drove her home.

During the drive he tried to assault her, and she also vomited out the car window.

She didn’t get home until 4am and straight away told her mum what had happened.

At the first plea hearing in May the victim told the court she had been left heartbroken by a man whose face she didn’t even remember.

It was heard she had gone on to suffer significant mental health issues, including PTSD and bulimia, and no longer drank alcohol, went for walks alone or trusted men.

The court heard Palliyaguruge had come to Australia from Sri Lanka in 2017 to study accounting and finance, but had changed to study cookery.

Judge Amanda Chambers had ordered that Palliyaguruge be assessed by a court-appointed psychiatrist after hearing he had experienced poor mental health, noting the material in Palliyaguruge in mitigation wasn’t strong.

At the second plea hearing on Thursday, the court heard the psychiatrist’s report revealed that Palliyaguruge still did not accept the jury’s guilty finding.

Judge Chambers said Palliyaguruge’s lawyer had confirmed there was no evidence Palliyaguruge was remorseful for the crime.

The court heard the report further indicated Palliyaguruge was emotionally immature and was at greater risk in prison than the average person.

His lawyer confirmed Palliyaguruge had been placed in a special protective unit in the prison after becoming the target of fellow inmates.

Palliyaguruge will be sentenced on June 25.