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Asylum seeker to face sex assault trial

A man will stand trial accused of sneaking into the university dorm of a Sydney student and assaulting her while she slept.

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Source: AAP


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A Sri Lankan asylum seeker will fight accusations he assaulted a sleeping woman in her university accommodation in Sydney.

Daxchan Selvarajah will stand trial next year after appearing in Parramatta District Court on Thursday.

He entered a formal plea of not guilty because his Tamil interpreter was not present.

Selvarajah was silent as Judge Martin Sides set the trial down for September 1, 2014.

Police have alleged he entered a unit in Culloden Road at Macquarie University about 3.30am on February 21 and put his hand down the pyjama pants of a 20-year-old female student.

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He was charged with two counts of aggravated entering a dwelling with intent to commit indecent assault and one count of indecent assault.

Selvarajah was ushered into the courtroom by an immigration official who remained by his side on Thursday morning.

His lawyer Ken Robinson said on Thursday that although Selvarajah was technically free on bail, his Australian visa had been cancelled.

"Strictly speaking my client is on bail, but he's been refused a visa as a result of this charge," Mr Robinson said.

The court has previously heard that at the time of the alleged offence, Selvarajah had not been permitted to reside at the university complex, but was taken there by a friend.

Selvarajah is believed to have arrived in the country on September 10 last year and moved to a Serco facility in Queensland.

On February 12 this year, he was released by the Department of Immigration and granted a bridging visa, and afterwards arrived in Sydney.


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