Gurshan Singh

Melbourne, March 8 (PTI): The three-year-old Indian boy found dead by the roadside last week may have been hurt in an accident before being put in a car boot and dumped by a part-time taxi driver, a media report said here today.

The Herald Sun reported that the parents of Gurshan Singh Channa had been told their son might have been “unintentionally injured” before being dumped near Melbourne Airport by the cabbie, who has been arrested and charged with the death.

The 23-year-old cabbie, identified as Dhillon Gursewak, was a housemate of the toddler’s parents. “Sources within Melbourne’s Sikh community say family members had been told that the three-year-old could have been unintentionally injured last Thursday,” the report said.

Gursewak is accused of leaving with Gurshan in a car and driving around for three hours before dumping the toddler. The nature of the charge — manslaughter by criminal negligence — indicates investigators believe Gurshan may have lived if medical help had been summoned, the report said.

After the arrest of Gursewak, it had been speculated that another person, a woman, was likely to be arrested. The woman, believed to be Gursewak’s wife, was expected to be charged with helping him to dispose off the body.

However, a Victoria police spokesperson said: “Definitely not. The wife has not been arrested or charged.”

Harjit Singh Channa, the toddler’s father, said he and his son’s “killer” had no frictions between themselves. “There were no old frictions in the families,” Channa told the paper.

Harjit’s cousin Deep Singh said they were all shocked Dhillon had been charged. “This is our friend, not a close friend, but we know the person, it is a shock.”