Tearful memorial service for Gurshan held in Melbourne, body to be flown back to India

Melbourne, Mar 13(ANI): Three-year-old Indian toddler Gurshan Singh's memorial service was held on Saturday at a funeral chapel in Thomastown, Melbourne.

Gurshan's body lay in a white coffin with candles burning at either end, and it will be flown back to India tonight for cremation in a Sikh ceremony.

Speaking over the shocking incident, Gurshan Singh's mother Harpreet Kaur Channa said that her family had come to Australia for a better life, but instead her son's fate was to meet his death.

"We came to Australia for a better family life with our loving and bubbly son Gurshan, but destiny had something else in mind, and now we are going back without Gurshan's smile and his lively presence," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Harpreet, as saying.

She further said that only time could heal the hurt for everyone affected by Gurshan's death.

"At this moment, we just want to say thanks to each and every person who prayed for our child and showed a concern for him and every eye which cried for him," Harpreet said.

"As parents, we will never be able to forget Gurshan. We would like everyone to pray, so God might bless us with him again," she added.

Gurshan went missing on March 4 from a house in Lalor, where the family was staying.

His body was later found near Melbourne Airport, about 30 kilometers from where the toddler disappeared.

Gursewak Dhillon, a 23-year-old acquaintance who shared the home with Gurshan's parents and others, has been charged with manslaughter by criminal negligence.

Police have successfully opposed bail, claiming that the taxi driver was a flight risk.

Dhillon, who has a wife in Australia and a daughter in India, made a brief appearance in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday and was remanded in custody to appear for a committal hearing on June 29.

According to the police, Dhillon placed the unconscious boy in the boot of his car, drove him around for at least three hours and dumped him at Oaklands Junction without checking to see if he was still alive. (ANI)