Danushka Gunathilaka sexual assault case: Sri Lanka cricketer to face rape trial in Australia

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Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka will face a trial in Australia in connection with the alleged sexual assault case against him.

The cricketer was arrested in Sydney after a woman filed a rape case against him while he was in Australia to play in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in 2022. The cricketer was suspended by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) immediately after his arrest last November by Sydney Police.

The 32-year-old had three of the four sexual assault charges he faced dropped last month. As per an Australian Associated Press (AAP) report, Gunathilaka entered a 'not guilty' plea to the remaining charge of sexual intercourse without consent at a local court in Sydney on Thursday (June 8).

The suspended Sri Lankan top order batter also tried to have his bail conditions altered so he would only have to report to police three times a week rather than daily, AAP said.

Earlier last year, media reports quoted police documents, that the victim was choked by Gunathilaka as she was "fearing for her life" during the alleged sexual assault. The woman alleged that she was sexually assaulted four times in her home at Sydney's Rose Bay on November 2 after going out for a date with the cricketer.