Housemate held for toddler’s death

7 March: A 23-year-old Indian housemate of the toddler who died in Australia has been arrested for manslaughter and accused of driving around for three hours with the unconscious boy in the boot of his car before dumping him in a field.

The arrested Indian has been identified as Dhillon Gursewak, a part-time taxi driver. Three-year-old Gurshan Singh Channa’s body was found three days ago in a Melbourne suburb. Sources told PTI that Gursewak’s wife was likely to be charged for helping him dispose of the child’s body.

Gursewak, charged with manslaughter due to criminal negligence, was not a relative of the toddler, though they lived in the same house, police said.

The motive behind the murder has not yet been made public. Gursewak “placed the child in the boot of his car unconscious but still alive”, Ron Iddles, Senior Sergeant of the homicide squad, was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

“He then drove up to at least three hours with the child in the boot of the car, eventually stopping at Oaklands Junction, where he placed the child from the boot into the grass and did not check to see if the child was alive, then returned to 28, David Street, Lalor,” Iddles said.

Gurshan’s body was found by a council worker on Thursday night, six hours after he disappeared from a rented property shared by his parents, Harpreet and Harjit, with friends and family here. A total of 12 people lived in the house on David Street, Lalor, from where Gurshan disappeared.

An initial autopsy on the child was inconclusive.

Gursewak appeared in court dressed in a white polo shirt and black tracksuit pants, staying calm throughout the hearing. He refereed to the boy as “the kid... the kid that died” when asked who lived with him at the David Street address.

Gursewak had recently bought a small truck and was due to start full-time work with a courier company on Wednesday. He lived in Lalor with his wife and has a daughter who is in India, according to PTI.

Gursewak applied for bail, offering to leave his passport and driver’s licence, saying that he could stay at the Mill Park house where he was arrested. But Iddles said the police were told that “because of the events that transpired today, he is no longer welcome there”.

Gursewak then gave the phone number of another friend, a man with whom he plays cricket and who lives in nearby Epping. He said his friend would be happy to take him in as long as the media was kept away.

An officer tried the number, but found it to be out of service. First bail justice Ben Czerniewicz then remanded Dhillon in custody amid concerns that he posed an unacceptable flight risk. Gursewak was refused bail and will reappear in the Melbourne court on Tuesday.

Gurshan’s parents Harpreet and Harjit were praying in the gurdwara when news trickled in that one of their housemates had been charged with the death of their son.

“We had gathered at the local gurdwara along with Gurshan’s parents and members of other faiths who have been living in the suburb to pray for his soul when we heard Gursewak had been charged with manslaughter by criminal negligence,” Harjit’s cousin Ramandeep said over phone from Lalor.

“At the moment, we only have the police version before us. We have no idea why Gursewak put Gurshan in the boot of his car? It is very painful for all of us here,” Ramandeep said.

Gursewak had helped Gurshan’s parents throw the toddler’s birthday party last month. “Everyone used to live in the house like one big family,” Ramandeep added.

Ramandeep pleaded ignorance when asked whether the Channas had any dispute over money with Gursewak.


The Telegraph
(With inputs from Agencies)