Sri Lankan batter Danushka Gunathilaka has been granted bail following a hearing at Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday, November 17. As part of his bail conditions, Gunathilaka is expected to report to the Eastwood police station on a daily basis and follow a curfew of 9 pm to 6 am while so surrendering his passport.
The 31-year-old batter has been in police custody since his arrest in Sydney on November 6. He was charged with four counts of sexual assault following an investigation by the Sex Crimes Squad detectives into allegations made by a woman. After 11 days behind bars, he was granted conditional bail following a hearing at Downing Centre Local Court today.
He is also not permitted to use Tinder or any other dating apps, and can only access social media in the presence of a legal representative. On granting bail, Magistrate Janet Wahlquist said there was a 'substantial incentive' for Gunathilaka to comply with his conditions.
The court heard a $ 200,000 surety was lodged in support of the cricketer's release, including $ 50,000 of his own money, and $150,000 offered by a Melbourne woman. "There is nothing that would indicate to me that he himself would further endanger the safety of the victim if he was granted bail," Ms Wahlquist said.
"The flight risk is quite clearly a real one... if the surety is offered ... that is a considerable amelioration of the risk of flight."
Gunathilaka was with the Sri Lankan team when they played England in Sydney but was not part of the playing XI as a hamstring injury had earlier drawn curtains to his 2022 World Cup campaign. Despite being replaced by Ashen Bandara, Gunathilaka remained with the team in Australia.
The left-handed batter's arrest reportedly took place after Sri Lanka's defeat against England in the Super 12 stage. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan team left for Colombo early on November 6 without Gunathilaka. The 31-year-old was involved in a similar incident in 2018 when Sri Lankan police probed him and his friend for the alleged rape of a Norwegian woman in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka Cricket board then suspended the batter. However, the police dismissed the charges against the Sri Lankan batter later.
Gunathilaka has played eight Test matches, 47 ODIs and 46 T20Is for the Islanders, scoring over 2,500 runs in international cricket.
