Danushka Gunathilaka maintains innocence of all charges, case adjourned till January 12, 2023

The attorneys for Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka stated in a statement today that he remains innocent of all charges despite being detained and accused of four counts of sexual assault in Australia. Danushka Gunathilaka has hired SANS Law, a Sydney-based law firm, to represent him in regard to the accusations.

A three-person investigation team was established by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Tuesday, November 8 to look into the situation involving the senior batsman. He was taken into custody at a Sydney hotel on November 6 and appeared in court the following day. The law firm issued a statement regarding the matter and disclosed that the case is currently being heard by the New South Wales Local Court.

“Danushka Gunathilaka maintains his innocence of all charges. Given the early stages of proceedings, we do not wish to make any further comment and will allow for the matter to be properly ventilated before the Court,” the statement read.

After Gunathilaka was detained, Sydney Magistrate Robert Williams refused him bail and adjourned the hearing to a new date, which is January 12, granting the case a period of nine and a half weeks. Danushka Gunathilaka has also been banned from all forms of cricket by the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket following his detention in Australia.

Due to an injury sustained during his team's match against Namibia during the first-round games, Gunathilaka had been disqualified from the T20 World Cup 2022. But while recovering, he remained in Australia with the rest of the team.

He communicated with the 29-year-old woman via a dating app for many days before allegedly meeting her last week. The Sri Lankan cricketer was detained after the woman accused him of sexually assaulting her during their meeting and reported him to the police.

“The committee will also focus the inquiry on various alleged incidents that have come to the attention of Sri Lanka Cricket and that are said to have allegedly taken place during the national team's stay in Australia. The panel in this process will call for an immediate explanation from the team manager pertaining to his (the manager's) conduct, with references to the occurrence of such incidents,” SLC’s statement read.