5 years jail in Gurshan manslaughter case

Gurshan

By Neeraj Nanda

Melbourne: Gursewak Dhillon, was yesterday sentenced to five years imprisonment by the Victorian Supreme Court for the manslaughter of Gurshan Singh, a child aged three years on 4 March 2010. Gursewak will serve a minimum of three years before he is eligible for parol. His 333 days already spent in pre-sentence detention will be treated as served./strong>

The case had grabbed media attention in Australia and India last year as it came up during the numerous attacks on Indian overseas students. Gursewak had pleaded guilty and during the course of the case it was stated by him that it was an accidental happening. The judgement says:
“… an accident occurred which involved you opening a door at the front of the premises without realising that the child, Gurshan Singh, was close by. The action of opening the door apparently struck the child to either the side or the back of his head and, to your observation, caused him to become immediately unconscious. You told police you saw the child fall to the ground and, although that occurred, you did not hear him cry and, on one account that you gave to the police, you thought the child was dead. The child was not dead at that point and I do not accept that you thought he was.”

“You also told police that you believed that the child was unconscious and after that incident occurred, you placed the child in the boot of your motor vehicle. You did not check the pulse of the child or whether there was any heartbeat. There seemed to be some uncertainty in your description as to whether the child was breathing,” the judgement says.
While sentencing Gursewak, the court noted that the accused had shown remorse and pleaded guilty and hence was being given a lesser sentence. It added, “It is also likely that once you have served any minimum term of imprisonment fixed before you are eligible for parole, you will be deported,since there are charges outstanding in relation to immigration matters.

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Neeraj Nanda

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