Indian cricketer Nikhil Chaudhary has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman in his car outside a nightclub in Townsville, Queensland.
Chaudhary, 27, who plays for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, faced Townsville District Court for the second day of his rape trial on Tuesday.
Prosecutors allege Chaudhary digitally penetrated the woman in his vehicle in May 2021, after the pair met inside the The Bank nightclub, danced and kissed.
But the defence will argue the woman consented to the alleged sexual act and will dispute whether penetration took place, ABC News reported.
Friends of the alleged victim told the court on Tuesday that they became concerned when she left the venue with Chaudhary at 3am and followed them out to his car where one banged on the window.
“[The alleged victim] was crying, she said he’d raped her,” the friend told the court.
“We told her to go to police.”
The woman’s mother testified that her daughter had called her in tears saying a man she had met was “all over her”, and the forensic nurse who examined the woman said the complainant told her she had consented to kissing but not digital penetration.
Defence lawyer Claire Grant told the court: “The issues will be whether the complainant consented to a sexual act … and the extent to which penetration was effected.”
The trial continues this week, and is expected to last three days.
Chaudhary was born in India and played in the country’s top domestic competition before being stranded in Australia while on holiday due to the Covid pandemic.
He ended up staying in Australia, and worked in a restaurant and as a postman while playing club cricket before being selected to play for the Hurricanes in 2023.
