Unbearable pain for family of Indian boy who died in Australia

MELBOURNE - The family of three-year-old Gurshan Singh Channa is dealing with “unbearable pain” over his death, a councillor said Monday while paying respects to the boy whose body was found far from his home in this Australian city.

Gurshan’s body was found on Wildwood Road Thursday night after a massive search following a complaint by his parents who were staying in Lalor, over 20 km away.

Darebin councillor Tim Singh Laurence said charges laid Sunday night against part-time taxi driver Gursewak Dhillon had helped ease the familys pain.

Dhillon is alleged to have placed the child in the boot of his car unconscious, but still alive, Thursday. He lived in the same house as the boy and his parents and several other people.

Obviously they (Gurshan’s parents) were dealing not only with the unbearable pain of losing a three-year old toddler, but dealing with the anxiety of not knowing what had happened to their child.

With the police announcing progress in the case it gives some relief to them but the pain of losing a child remains, Australian news agency AAP quoted Laurence as saying.

It was still unclear as to how the boy was rendered unconscious; an autopsy has failed to determine a cause of death.

Gurshan arrived in Australia in January with his parents. The family was due to return to India as his father Harjit Singh Channa failed to find work in Melbourne.

Singh and his wife Harpreet Singh Channa gave statements to police Friday but officials say they are not suspects.

Gurshan’s death had caused an uproar in India, with New Delhi Friday describing the incident as “most unfortunate”.

There have been a string of attacks on Indians in Australia, with one of them proving fatal. Nitin Garg was fatally stabbed Jan 2 while on his way to work in this city.