Sri Lankan cricket star charged with rape released from prison

An international cricketer who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in Sydney has been forbidden from using his social media or dating profiles.

Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka will walk out of prison on Thursday after being granted bail in a second bid before the Local Court.

The 31-year-old has been behind bars on remand for 11 days after being charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent.

He appeared in his prison greens in Sydney Downing Centre on Thursday to make a desperate request for release, backed by a $150,000 surety provided by a “friend of a friend”, with a further $50,000 to be paid by Mr Gunathilaka if he does not appear.

Under his strict bail conditions, he is not to access any dating apps or any of his existing social media profiles once released from prison, and will not be able to leave Australia.

Danushka Gunathilaka has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman in Sydney.

Police allege the international cricket star matched with a woman on a dating app and they chatted several times before they met on November 2.

The pair had drinks in the city before they went back to the woman’s home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs about 11pm, according to police.

Mr Gunathilaka then allegedly ignored the woman’s request to “take it slow” and instead choked and assaulted the 29-year-old woman in her own home.

The top order batsman allegedly forced himself on top of the woman when the pair moved to the bedroom. Police claim the woman was uncomfortable and agreed to continue with sexual activity only if Mr Gunathilaka wore a condom.

“He protested, but eventually agreed,” police documents tendered to the court stated.

The court was told the woman later found the condom on the floor beside the bed.

Police allege the woman was “in shock” and did not consent to sex without a condom. She again asked him to use a condom but he refused and forcefully engaged in sexual activity, according to police claims.

Mr Gunathilaka was in Sydney for the T20 World Cup. Picture: AAP / Darren England

During the several hours he remained at the woman’s home, Mr Gunathilaka allegedly choked the woman multiple times and slapped her on the buttocks.

The woman was “frozen and in shock” before the international cricketer asked her to order an Uber for him, police say. He left her home just before 1am.

Police claim the woman woke up the next morning with sore and swollen lips and called two friends to tell them about the incident. She also contacted a counselling service and saw her doctor the morning after the alleged sexual assaults.

She told police she was unable to work because she “couldn’t stop crying”.

The cricketer’s lawyer, Murugan Thangaraj, told the court his client “denied any form of violence” and “denied there was a lack of consent”.

“It’s a one-on-one case,” he told the court.

Police prosecutor Kerry-Ann McKinnon said the prosecution had a strong case “based on consent”.

The court heard the prosecution will rely on DNA evidence, forensic material, and electronic evidence.

The cricketer was supported by a number of ‘well respected people’. Picture: Instagram

The sergeant argued Mr Gunathilaka should be kept in custody because of the risk of flight and the risk of endangering the alleged victim.

“This man was in her home,” she said.

However, Mr Thangaraj refuted the idea that his client would be able to find his way back to a house he visited in an unfamiliar area at night.

The court was told the woman had been subjected to a storm of social media abuse since the international cricketer was charged.

“She’s been hassled, she’s been harassed by unknown people with Sri Lankan names through social media,” Sergeant McKinnon said.

The cricketer “has not encouraged a single person” to behave in that manner, his lawyer maintained.

The prosecutor noted it was an example of the “influence” Mr Gunathilaka has in his home country, which prompted Australian residents to offer up “substantial amounts of money to secure his release”.

Mr Gunathilaka has not entered any pleas to the charges.

“The people that have come in support of this man were not known to him prior to his arrest,” she said.

Mr Thangaraj argued it was the same influence which would motivate the cricketer to reappear at court.

“He is being supported by the Sri Lankan cricket association and the Sri Lankan government,” he said.

“(If he didn’t reappear) his career would be over because Sri Lankan cricket would never allow him to play cricket again, and he would be in trouble with the government.”

Magistrate Janet Wahlquist noted the national sportsman had no criminal record, although his cricket prowess meant he had access to “money and … power”.

She determined there was nothing to indicate Mr Gunathilaka would endanger the alleged victim, but there was a “substantial incentive for him on many levels to comply with his bail”.

Despite the risk of flight, the magistrate said “a young man without a record and with a high profile would be likely to be granted bail if he was Australian”.

Mr Gunathilaka will be residing in northwest Sydney. Picture: Instagram

She granted the cricketer bail with strict conditions, including a nightly curfew, daily reporting to police, and a direction to immediately surrender his passport.

He will be restricted to a single phone and forbidden from using any dating apps or his existing social media profiles.

Mr Gunathilaka cannot travel within 1km of an international departure point or have any contact with the alleged victim. He will reside in northwest Sydney.

He has not entered any pleas to the charges.