Danushka Gunathilaka Rape Case: Sri Lanka cricketer's lawyer slams court for lengthy delays

Sri Lanka cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka’s lawyer has recently slammed Sydney Downing Centre Local Court for lengthy delays in court proceedings, as per a report in news.com.au. Despite being arrested for sexual assault months ago, the Crown has not yet served a brief of evidence on defence, making the process lengthier.

It all started when the cricketer matched with a woman on a dating app during the T20 World Cup 2022 and after a few conversations online, they decided to meet on November 2. As per the police investigation, the pair had a few drinks on the night before they went to the woman’s home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs at about 11 pm. 

Danushka Gunathilaka Rape Case: What are the details found by police?

A fact sheet tendered by police at a previous court hearing said that later in the night, the 31-year-old ignored the woman’s request to ‘take things slow’ and sexually assaulted her. He is said to force himself on top of the woman and even though the woman hesitated, she agreed to have sex only if the cricketer wore a condom. 

However, the 29-year-old found out that the top-order batter is not using protection and asked him to do the same but the cricketer refused and instead forcefully engaged in sexual activity. Police reported that the woman was ‘frozen and shock’ as the cricketer left her house at around 1 pm that night.

In the meantime, Gunathilaka has not entered pleas to the four charges of sexual assault. His lawyer Alen Sahinovic told the court that the Crown had not served any evidence as of now. He criticised the delay in the process and asked the court to order the Crown to serve the working brief within a week. However, the prosecutor revealed that the brief was not yet compliant.

Gunathilaka, meanwhile, was granted leave to move to a one-bedroom apartment in Sydney. It is reported that he has surrendered his passport. The cricketer is ordered to report to the police every day and a night curfew is also imposed on him.

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