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Rediff.com  » News » Australians express grief at Indian toddler's death

Australians express grief at Indian toddler's death

Source: PTI
Last updated on: March 05, 2010 18:36 IST
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The tragic death of an Indian toddler in mysterious circumstances near Melbourne touched the chords of local Australians who made a beeline to his parents' house with flowers, cards and toys to express their grief.

It was not only the neighbours, but also by-passers who came to express their sorrow at the death of three-year-old Gurshan Singh, whose dead body was found 30 km away from his home by the police.

Many came to pay their condolences, while others offered help in any form to the family, which was about to leave the country along with the toddler.

Media reports said Gurshan's mother Harpreet Kaur Channa and father Harjit Singh Channa were called to the local St Kilda Rd police station to give their statement to the detectives.

Members of Gurshan's extended family said nobody had been allowed to see or identify the body.

Victoria Police Det-Inspector Steve Clark insisted the victim's family would be able to see the body and make an identification on Friday, and the option had always been available for the family to make their own arrangements with the Coroner.

An autopsy of the toddler's body, however, was not able to determined cause of the death. The autopsy was carried by the coroner under special powers, without formal identification of the body by the relatives.

It is said that the autopsy was done to expedite the case and arrive at the cause of the death.

Homicide detectives are leading the investigation, which is officially classified as suspicious. Clark said there were no suspects identified.

He, however, revealed that the toddler and his mother were not alone in the house at the time of the disappearance.

"There were a couple of people at home at the time," he said. When the family realised the boy wasn't at the library, a cousin alerted the police about his disappearance around 1.10 pm on Thursday.

Gurshan's body was found by a council worker dumped in long grass by the side of a road at Oaklands Junction around 7 pm. The toddler was fully clothed in blue jeans and a grey top.

Clark said the body had no obvious signs of injuries and an autopsy had not revealed how he died.

"There has been an autopsy conducted and as I say a range of forensic testing needs to be carried out," he said. Clark said the police had "spoken to a range of witnesses overnight".
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