A woman who went on a Tinder date with Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka was asked in court if the batsman took off a condom and disguised her.
The international cricket star is facing a single judge trial in the Downing Center District Court after pleading not guilty to a charge of sexual assault without consent.
The charges relate to an incident on November 2 last year in which Mr Gunathilaka allegedly removed a condom during sex with a woman at her eastern suburbs home, known as “stealthing”.
The couple first met at the Opera Bar, where CCTV footage shows them hugging before having a drink together in the city and taking the ferry back to the woman’s home.
The woman continued her statement via an audio-visual link and was quizzed about the intimate moment by the cricketer’s lawyer, Murugan Thangaraj SC.
Cricket star Danushka Gunathilaka (pictured outside court on Tuesday) has pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual assault without consent
The star’s lawyer, Murugan Thangaraj SC, questioned the woman about the intimate moment (Pictured: Danushka Gunathilaka outside the Sydney court)
The woman told prosecutor Gabrielle Steedman on Monday that Mr Gunathilaka had tried to persuade her not to use a condom.
But Mr Thangaraj insisted this was not the case.
“He never said he didn’t want to wear a condom that night,” the lawyer said Tuesday.
“He never tried to convince you to have unprotected sex.”
The alleged victim responded, “That’s not correct.”
Mr Thangaraj pressed the women about their police statement, telling the court that she had written that Mr Gunathilaka had “choked her with one hand” while the other was “lying on the bed”.
He told the court that Mr Gunathilaka then started hitting the woman on the buttocks.
“You agree that he could not have removed a condom while he was choking you or slapping your buttocks,” he addressed the woman.
He continued to harass the woman and said his client did not have a chance to take off the condom as her statement said sex in the same way “lasted about 10 to 15 minutes.”
The prosecutor told the court that during the intimate act, Mr Gunathilaka “took off the condom and threw it on the floor”.
The international cricket star arrived at the court with his supporters on Tuesday
But the woman says he had a chance to remove the condom, which she later saw on the floor next to the bed.
“You’re not describing him throwing a condom or anything else, are you?” Mr Thangaraj asked the woman.
“Mr Gunathilaka never had unprotected penile and vaginal sex with you.”
The woman said this statement was “not correct” and insisted that Mr Gunathilaka “took off the condom and threw it on the floor”.
The woman acknowledged to Mr Thangaraj that she could have walked home alone at any point during the night, but suggested the pair continued drinking at her home.
She had previously told the court that Mr Gunathilaka kissed her “vigorously” while they were waiting for a ferry and also “slapped her quite hard on the buttocks”.
When they arrived back at her house, the woman said she poured two glasses of wine before Mr Gunathilaka “pushed her back onto the couch” and kissed her forcefully again.
Mr Thangaraj asked why the woman took the cricketer to her bedroom and lit candles.
Gunathilaka’s lawyer said his client did not have the opportunity to remove the condom during the sexual encounter
“Your decision to take him to the bedroom was a natural consequence of the evening, wasn’t it?” the lawyer asked.
“A Tinder date with pre-planned drinks at your house after days of flirting, playing guitar, drinking wine and lighting candles in the bedroom. It was a completely natural transition from the living room to the bedroom.”
The woman did not agree with the proposal.
The main issue in the trial is Mr. Gunathilaka’s state of mind regarding whether or not he removed the condom without the woman’s knowledge.
Ms Steedman told the court the woman had consented to protected sex.
The trial continues before Judge Huggett.
