Sri Lankan cricketer Danishka Gunathilaka has been granted bail by a Sydney court after being charged with four counts of sexual assault.
Magistrate Janet Wahlquist granted bail on conditions including a $150,000 surety, reporting to police daily, a curfew from 9pm and 6am, not contacting the complainant and a ban on accessing Tinder and dating applications.
Mr Gunathilaka, 31, has been held in custody since his arrest in Sydney on November 6. He was charged following an investigation by Sex Crimes Squad detectives into sexual assault allegations made by a woman.
After 11 days behind bars, he was granted bail following a hearing at Downing Centre Local Court today. The court has heard Mr Gunathilaka and the woman had matched on a dating application on October 29 before agreeing to meet on November 2.
Police allege the pair consumed several drinks at venues in Sydney CBD before going back to the woman’s home. The court has heard once there, Mr Guntathilaka allegedly sexually assaulted the woman several times.
Court documents allege he also choked the woman during the incident, so forcefully she at one point “feared for her life”. The cricketer, who has represented his country in all international formats, was in Australia to play in the T20 World Cup at the time of his arrest.
An investigation was launched on November 1, after the woman reported the incident to police. Mr Gunathilaka was arrested at a hotel on Sussex Street as the Sri Lankan team were preparing to return home.
