Melbourne: Gurshan Singh Channa, the child whose death shocked the Indian community in Melbourne, probably succumbed to heat exhaustion when he was being driven around in the boot of a car, the police suspect.
Gursewak Dhillon, an Indian-origin Melbourne resident, has been blamed for causing Gurshan’s death. He has confessed to driving Gursewak around in the boot of his car but has denied that he deliberately harmed him.
Forensic tests carried out on a seized Commodore sedan found the temperature in its boot might have reached 50 degrees Celsius while Gurshan was being driven around the city on March 4, The Age said in a report on Monday.
Dhillon, who shared a residential building with Gurshan’s parents, claims Gurshan was knocked down unconscious when he ran into a door at the house on David Street, Lalor.
Dhillon claims he placed the boy in the boot and drove off, planning to take him to a hospital but then panicked because he feared authorities would find out that he had entered Australia illegally.
Dhillon said he drove around aimlessly for at least three hours trying to decide what to do. A passing woman motorist helped him in buying petrol from a service station when he ran out of fuel.
Dhillon left the car with the child still in the boot while the woman gave Dhillon lift to a service station.
Detectives have obtained closed circuit security footage that confirms the accused was at a northwestern suburban service station making a purchase.
Dhillon finally dumped Gursewak by the roadside near Tullamarine airport at Oaklands Junction, more than 20 km away from his home.
The body was found nearly seven hours after the three-year-old was reported missing. Dhillon has been charged with manslaughter by criminal negligence and is in custody until June 29.
Gurshan 's parents, Harjit Singh and Harpreet Kaur Channa, have returned to India.
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