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.
