The parents of Gursewak Dhillon,who has been charged with manslaughter by criminal negligence over the death of three-year-old Gurshan Singh Channa in Melbourne,say he hit the toddler by mistake with his apartment door and panicked when the boy fell unconscious. If he had had the courage to admit to this,instead of hiding facts,he wouldnt be in such deep trouble,say the parents,holding the one-year-old daughter of Gursewak who lives with them at their Army Enclave house near Jalandhar Cantt. He couldnt hurt anyone. how could he kill a child? Gursewaks father P S Dhillon,a retired Army Captain,and mother Sukhwinder Kaur havent slept since they got the news of the 23-year-olds arrest four days ago. Three days back,Gursewak told me on the phone that as he opened the main door to his residence in Mellbourne,which he shared with 12 others,including parents of Gurshan,he hit the boy. He said he could not see from outside that Gurshan was standing next to the door,and the child got hit and fell unconscious, says Dhillon. Gursewak told him that he shook Gurshan to wake him up,but he didnt respond. He then called out to Gurshans mother,who was taking a bath,and own wife Simrat Kaur,who was in the kitchen at the time,but both couldnt hear his calls. He then put the child in his car to take him to hospital. According to Dhillon,Gursewak said,on the way,his car fuel finished and he got it filled,and then it seemed to him that the child may be dead. It frightened him,and afraid of being charged with murder,he dumped the child. Gursewak was scared that if he took the child back home to his parents,nobody would believe him. However,while Gursewaks parents say he put Gurshan in the car to take him to hospital,the Australian Police say the child was driven around in the boot of the car for three hours. They also believe Gurshan would have lived if he had received basic first aid rather than being left in the boot and later dumped. Both Gursewak and his wife Simrat went to Australia two years ago,after their wedding,on student visas. After finishing his schooling from Central School,Jalandhar,Gursewak had done a two-year course in computers. However,he always wanted to settle abroad. Simrats father too is a retired Army Captain. Last year,Simrat returned briefly to leave their newly born daughter with Dhillon and his wife in Jalandhar as her course wasnt finished. The child has been living with us because Simrat had not completed her course and she had no other option, say Gursewaks parents. Their son,who worked as a part-time taxi driver,was planning to come home next winter,by which time he hoped to have settled down. Gursewaks sister has completed her M.Sc in nursing and is working. Saying that they never imagined this could happen to our son,Sukhwinder Kaur said Simrat had called them up a few hours back and said she was hiring an advocate for him. An Australian court on Tuesday adjourned till June 29 the hearing in the case,with the prosecution seeking extra time to prepare evidence against Gursewak. He did not apply for bail during the proceedings,which lasted less than a minute,but can do so at any time. Others in the Jalandhar colony where the Dhillons have been living for 10 years are equally shocked. In fact,they offered an ardas in the local gurdwara for Gursewaks well-being after the news of his arrest. Gursewak is quite a simple and loving boy, said Jaswinder Singh,who knows the family. The parents of Gurshan,Harjeet Singh and Harpreet Kaur Channa,are expected to reach Kotkapura with his body this weekend. I am told Harjeet has expressed his wish to cremate his son in his native town, Harjeets uncle Darshan Singh said. with inputs from Kotkapura
