Toddler was alive when he was dumped by the road side: Kaur

Dhillon, who drove with Gurshan for three-hours in his car boot on March 4 before dumping him, told his 24-year-old wife Simarjeet Kaur that the kid was still alive but not moving.

"The next day (Dhillon) said the baby was still alive when he put him in the boot because he saw his eyes blinking. He said he was still alive when he put him in the grass because he saw his eyes moving, but his body wasn't moving," Kaur said in her statement, The Age reported today.

27-year-old Dhillon pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday to one count of manslaughter by criminal negligence.

"He said he thought he should take him to hospital, but felt insecure about the questions he would be asked. He thought if he left the baby alive and someone else found him and took him to hospital, it would be better," Kaur said.

"But when City West Water contractor Leigh Fullarton found Gurshan, it was too late for him to be saved.

"An autopsy report found that interpretation of the abrasions on Gurshan's head and face had been complicated by the presence of ants that covered his body.

"Forensic pathologist Melissa Baker could not determine a cause of death and said that "the injuries present are not sufficient to explain death and would not obviously lead to unconsciousness, however this cannot be excluded," the paper said.

"Impact with a door may explain some of these bruises, but is unlikely to explain all of them. The autopsy did not show sufficient injuries to clearly account for the death of the child."

In her statement, Kaur said she and her husband, whose infant daughter lives with family in India, did not believe it when officers told them that the toddler was dead.

"I didn't know he was dead and I thought they must be lying. When I saw all the news and media the next day I realised it was true. I felt bad. I felt we were the killers," said Kaur, who has not been charged.

Kaur told police she and Dhillon also planned to return to India in November.
Dhillon was remanded for a Supreme Court directions hearing this month. He did not apply for bail.