A distraught Brampton man accused of murdering his niece carried her to a neighbour’s home seeking help, jurors heard yesterday.
Davinder Singh, 40, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the June 21, 2005, death of his 31/2 year-old niece; he says she died later that day as a result of falling into a backyard wading pool.
Prosecutors Stephen Laufer and Brian McGuire contend Rashmeet Oshan did not drown but Singh deliberately injured his niece — breaking her back, an injury that tore her aorta in half — and she died from internal bleeding.
Jurors have heard Singh briefly revived his niece but she became unresponsive after he changed her wet clothes. Instead of calling 9-1-1, he ran with his niece in his arms to a neighbour’s home and handed the child to Sarbjit Kaur Samra when he entered her home on Rockrose Drive in Brampton.
After Rashmeet was rushed to hospital, Singh took Peel Police Sgt. Lawrence Gagnon to his home down the street and told him what happened. But Gagnon thought his explanation didn’t make sense.
The trial resumes today.
