Sri Lanka cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka arrested in Sydney for sexual assault
Sydney(PTI): Sri Lanka cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka, who was with the national squad for T20 World Cup in Australia, has been arrested on charges of sexual assault, team sources said on Sunday.
It has been learnt that the 31-year-old Gunathilaka was arrested and taken to Sydney City police station in the wee hours of Sunday following an investigation into alleged sexual assault of a woman on November 2.
"Daushka Gunathilaka has been arrested for an alleged rape. The Sri Lankan team has left Australia without him," a source close to the Sri Lankan team told PTI.
Sri Lankan team was eliminated from the tournament after losing to England on Sunday. The left-handed batter played against Namibia in the first round match of the ongoing T20 World Cup and was out for a duck.
Later, he was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury even as the team qualified for the Super 12 stage. The Lankan team finished fourth in Group 1.
The New South Wales police, on its website, has also mentioned about the arrest of an unnamed Sri Lankan national.
"Sex Crimes Squad detectives have charged a Sri Lankan national following an investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Sydney's east last week," the report said.
According to details on the wesbite, a 29-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted at a residence in Rose Bay earlier this week.
"The woman met with the man after communicating with him for a number of days via an online dating application; it's alleged he then sexually assaulted her on the evening of Wednesday 2 November 2022.
"As part of ongoing investigations, a crime scene examination was undertaken by specialist police at an address in Rose Bay yesterday. Following further inquiries, a 31-year-old man was arrested at a hotel on Sussex Street, Sydney, shortly before 1am today (Sunday 6 November 2022)," the report added.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is yet to issue a statement on the matter.
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Catholic Bishops' body slams Bhagwat's remarks
New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on Thursday slammed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his reported remark that Pranab Mukherjee, when he was President, had said tribals would turn "anti-national" if there is no "ghar wapsi"Catholic Bishops.'
In a statement issued here, CBCI, a body of Catholic Bishops, referred to reports which said Bhagwat, at an event on Monday, claimed that Mukherjee, while he was President had appreciated ghar wapsi and told him that had it not been for the Sangh's work on reconversion, a section of Adivasis would have turned "anti-national".The CBCI called the report "shocking".
"Fabricated personal conversation being attributed to a former president of India and its posthumous publication with the vested interest of an organization with questionable credibility raises a grave issue of national importance," the CBCI claimed.
"Is it not the violent ghar wapsi program of VHP and other similar organizations, curtailing the exercise of freedom of conscience of economically deprived tribals, the real anti-national activity?" it asked.
'Ghar wapsi' is a term used by the RSS and affiliated organisations to refer to reconversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, based on the belief that they were originally Hindus before converting to other religions.
The CBCI also questioned why Bhagwat did not speak about it while Mukherjee was alive.
"We, the 2.3 percent of Indian citizens who are Christians feel extremely hurt by such manipulated and motivated propaganda unleashed," it said.
In a post on X following the statement issued by CBCI, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said, "Speak up. This is a start!"
"Bishops body have issued a statement condemning remarks made by Dr Mohan Bhagwat and RSS for defaming the Christian community," he said.
O'Brien added that they should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi more questions, including why Christmas Day has been turned into "Good Governance Day".
The TMC leader, in a blogpost earlier this month, had said "hard questions" must be asked to the government with regards to the Christian community, including why the FCRA has been 'weaponised', and why has Manipur been 'ignored'.
