A SRI Lankan asylum-seeker charged with indecently assaulting a woman in her university accommodation allegedly tried to get into another student's room within minutes of the attack.

Court documents say Daxchan Selvarajah, 21, entered a unit in Culloden Road at Macquarie University about 3.30am AEDT last Thursday and put his hand down the pyjama pants of a 20-year-old female student.

Police say the woman awoke and screamed, and her attacker fled.

Selvarajah was arrested yesterday at Railway Square in Sydney's CBD and charged with two counts of aggravated entering a dwelling with intent to commit indecent assault and one count of indecent assault.

In the same 10-minute time frame as the attack on the student, the accused also attempted to enter the unit next door with the same intent, court documents allege.

"He knew that there were persons present within the said dwelling place," the charge sheet states.

Selvarajah chose not to appear when his matter was mentioned briefly in Central Local Court today.

He did not apply for bail, which was formally refused.

read on at The Australian