AUSTRALIAN cricketer Luke Pomersbach was granted bail on Saturday (May 19) by a New Delhi court following accusations he molested a woman and beat up her fiance.
The 27-year-old batsman, who has one cap for Australia, is signed up in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Royal Challengers Bangalore team, which took on the Delhi Daredevils on Thursday (May 17) night.
He faces up to two years in jail if found guilty of allegations of molesting a woman and assaulting her fiance at a post-game party at a swanky five-star hotel in New Delhi.
The cricketer has denied the charges against him.
His lawyer, Ajay Bhargava told reporters: “He has received bail on condition that he surrenders his passport and pays a surety of `30,000 ($550/£347.62) on each charge.”
He added the court ruled that “a trespassing charge cannot be maintained” against Pomersbach after CCTV footage filmed outside the alleged victim’s room proved inconclusive on whether the cricketer had forcibly entered her suite.
A visibly relieved Pomersbach told reporters outside the court: “I am happy that I have been granted bail and looking forward to getting to the bottom of it (the case).”
He said he had faith in the Indian justice system but added: “I am disappointed with the way the allegations were made against me. It’s sickening.”
His arrest was headline news in Indian and Australian newspapers on Saturday (May 19) with reports detailing the sensational allegations in the case and the chequered history of the money-spinning IPL.
The powerfully built cricketer, with his right arm in a cast, fainted during an earlier court appearance on Friday (May 18). Reports said that the cricketer had suffered a fractured hand in the alleged incident.
The alleged woman victim, a 27-year-old from the US, told Indian media Pomersbach had “tagged along” with her and her Mumbai-based fiance and said the cricketer grabbed her while they drank together in a hotel room.
When her fiance asked Pomersbach to leave her alone, Pomersbach “turned around and started hitting him”, she alleged.
The man was in a stable condition in hospital.
