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) on 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 on Tuesday 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 20-year-old 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 on Wednesday.

 

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

 

His lawyer Ken Robinson told the court his client intended to apply for bail at his next appearance on March 7 in Parramatta Local Court.

 

He will appear via audio-visual link with the aid of an interpreter.

 

Mr Robinson told reporters outside court his client was “doing well”.

 

“He’s obviously feeling the strain a little bit,” he added.

 

An immigration department spokeswoman has said the man was an asylum seeker on a bridging visa, but was not living in accommodation at Macquarie University at the time of the attack.

 

The university has said Campus Living, part of the Transfield Group, provides services for asylum seekers including temporary accommodation under a 2012 agreement with the Red Cross’s Asylum Seeker Assistance Scheme (ASAS).

 

Campus Living’s website describes the accommodation as Macquarie University Village.

Court documents say Selvarajah lived in a unit in Parramatta. (AAP)