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Sri Lanka cricket star charged with rape in Australia

November 7, 2022
Sri Lanka’s Danushka Gunathilaka is seen in a file photo from June 8, 2017. (Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

(CNN) — Sri Lanka international cricket player Danushka Gunathilaka has been charged with rape after he was arrested at his team’s hotel late on Saturday night, according to Australian police.

At a news conference in Sydney on Sunday, New South Wales Police Commander Jayne Doherty said Gunathilaka, 31, has been charged with four counts of “sexual intercourse without consent” against a 29-year-old woman in the city whom he met online.

Police allege Gunathilaka “assaulted [the woman] a number of times while performing sex acts upon her,” Doherty said.

The cricketer has been refused bail and will appear in a Sydney court on Monday, she added.

The arrest came just hours after Sri Lanka lost a T20 World Cup match against England.

Gunathilaka, who was earlier ruled out of the tournament due to injury, made his international debut in 2015. Since then, the left-handed batsman has played in eight test matches, 47 one-day internationals (ODI) and 46 T20I games for his country.

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