High temperatures in car boot may have killed Gurshan

MELBOURNE - Three-year-old Indian kid Gurshan Singh could have died from heat exhaustion when he was left in dangerously high temperatures in a car boot for hours after suffering minor injuries at his parents’ Lalor home in Australia.

Forensic tests carried out on a seized Commodore sedan showed the temperature in the boot might have reached 50 degrees while he was being driven around Melbourne’s north-western suburbs on March 4.

The man charged over the death, Gursewak Dhillon, has admitted disposing of the body, but denied deliberately injuring the child, The Age reports.

He told police that the boy was accidentally knocked unconscious when he ran into the door at the house in David Street, Lalor. A post-mortem found slight bruising consistent with a minor knock to the head, but failed to find a cause of death.

Dhillon said he placed the boy in the boot and drove off with the intention of driving to a surgery or hospital. But he said that he panicked, fearing authorities would find he had entered Australia under a false name and so would face deportation.

He said he drove around aimlessly for at least three hours trying to decide what to do. Police were told he ran out of fuel, left the car with the child still in the boot, flagged a lift from a passing motorist, bought petrol and returned later.

Despite police appeals, the female motorist who allegedly gave Dhillon a lift to a service station has not come forward, The Age reports.

Detectives have now obtained closed circuit security footage that confirms the accused was at a north-western suburban service station making a purchase.

Dhillon finally dumped the little boy by the roadside near Tullamarine airport at Oaklands Junction, more than 20 kilometres 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 remanded in custody until June 29, The Age reports. (ANI)