Sri Lanka pacer and former captain Lasith Malinga has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman during his stay in India a few years ago.
Popular playback singer Chinmayi Sripaada, who has been one of the leading voices of the much-talked-about #MeToo campaign in India, shared an account of an anonymous woman, who claims to have been "humiliated" after the alleged misbehavior from a "very famous Sri Lankan cricketer".
Although the woman hasn't used Malinga's name, Chinmayi pointed out in her tweet that it was about the Mumbai Indians star.
The woman claims that the cricketer had tricked her into going with him to his hotel room during an Indian Premier League (IPL) season in Mumbai. She also added that she tried to fight him off but was unable to do so despite being as tall as the cricketer himself.
"I'd like to remain anonymous. A few years back when I was in Mumbai, I was looking for my friend in a hotel we were staying in. I bumped into a very famous Sri Lankan cricketer during the IPL season who said my friend was in his room. I go in and she's not. He then pushed me in the bed and proceeded to climb onto my face (sic)," the anonymous woman's account reads.
"Mind you I'm tall and about same body weight & I couldn't fight him back. I closed my eyes and mouth but he used my face. Then the hotel staff knocked on the door to replenish the bar which he went to open the door. I quickly ran into the washroom, washed my face and left as soon as the hotel staff left.
"I was humiliated. I knew people would say that you knowingly went to his room, he's famous, you wanted it o worse you deserve it."
Malinga had been a mainstay for Mumbai Indians in the cash-rich IPL. The 35-year-old was instrumental in helping the Maharashtra-based franchise win three league titles since the inception of the league in 2008.
Indian flight attendant accuses Ranatunga of misconduct
Meanwhile, the accusation against Malinga comes a day after an Indian flight attendant alleged former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga had tried to grab her waist at a hotel in Mumbai.
The woman also claimed she had complained about the actions of Ranatunga, now Sri Lanka's Minister of Petroleum Resources Development in Sri Lanka, to the hotel staff but was told that it was her "private matter".
"My starstruck colleague spotted Indian and Sri Lankan cricketers in the elevator of Hotel Juhu Centaur, Mumbai and decided to meet them in their room for autographs. I decided to chaperone her, fearing for her safety, we were offered drinks (perhaps laced) I declined and stuck to my bottle of water I'd brought along. They were 7 and we 2, they latched the room door putting the chain secure. My discomfort growing inside of me, I urged her to get back to our room," the woman wrote in a Facebook post.
"She was smitten and wanted to go for a stroll by the poolside, this was at 1900 hrs, the walk to the pool a desolate, unlit pathway at the back of the hotel, I look back to find (her friend) and the Indian cricketer nowhere in sight.
"Ranatunga grabs me by waist, sliding his hands along the side of my breasts, I scream fearing the worst, kicking on his legs and feet. Threatening him of dire consequences, passport cancellation, reporting it to the cops etc., for he is a Sri Lankan misbehaving with an Indian. Wasting no time, I dashed for the hotel reception a good run on an incline screaming on top of my voice. The reception said, "it is your private matter" and that they can't help me."
