Sri Lanka opener Danushka Gunathilaka has been handed a six-match suspension with immediate effect for breaching the 'Player Code of Conduct and Contractual Obligation', Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Friday(July 27).

His ban for six international games is attributed to two code violations - three for his latest transgression and three from a previous suspended sentence of one year, which Gunathilaka was already serving since 18th October, 2017, for breaching the 'Player Contract'.

SLC also announced that the 27-year-old will not be paid for the second Test against South Africa, during the course of which he was in breach of the contract. No bonus or payments with regards to the game will be given to him.

SLC had earlier suspended the batsman, pending inquiry, without divulging the reasons. AFP later reported that the suspension was in context of an alleged sexual assault that occurred in the team hotel. The alleged incident reportedly involved Gunathilaka's acquaintance - a British passport-holder of Sri Lankan origin - who was accused of sexual assault by a Norwegian woman.

Sandeep Jude Selliah, the friend of Gunathilaka, was arrested by the police following the complaint. Gunathilaka was later questioned by the police, and he reported stated that he wasn't aware of the incident as he was asleep.

"He has said he was asleep and was not aware of what had taken place between his friend and the Norwegian woman," a policeman told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Gunathilaka, though, had allegedly breached the team curfew at the time of the incident, with SLC conducting an inquiry of its own. This was his third misdemeanour in the last 10 months.

The opener was handed a six-match ban from white-ball cricket - eventually reduced to three games - in October 2017 for reportedly skipping a training session after late night partying, during the series against India.

He was also officially reprimanded for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the ODI tri-series final in Mirpur, in January earlier this year, and consequently had one demerit point added to his disciplinary record.

Gunathilaka, who scored half-centuries in both innings of the second Test against South Africa in Colombo, has not been named in the squad for the upcoming ODI series, joining Dinesh Chandimal on the sidelines, who is serving a ban for two Tests and four ODIs following the ball-tampering row in West Indies.