Harinderjeet Singh Bhatia: Charged with choking toddler

A man who allegedly choked a toddler in front of neighbours has told the court he was performing CPR after the child choked on a jalapeño from a pizza.

A man who allegedly choked a toddler in front of neighbours has told the court he was performing CPR after the child choked on a jalapeño from a pizza.

Harinderjeet Singh Bhatia, 39, of St Marys, applied for bail in Penrith Local Court on Friday on charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intentionally choking a person without consent and reckless grievous bodily harm.

The court heard a witness, who had been staying in a nearby Airbnb, heard screaming which led the person to look over the fence in concern.

Bhatia applied for bail at Penrith Local Court.

Magistrate David O’Neil read from the police facts tendered to court which alleged Bhatia had been witnessed holding the child’s neck with two hands and squeezing for six seconds and made an action consistent with a “stomping motion”.

“The witness statements say ‘I heard a stomping motion, a soft thud, that did not sound like it was hitting the floor. I also heard a muffled winded scream and said ‘oi what the f**k are you doing?’”, Magistrate O’Neil quoted.

Police allege the child sustained a fractured right arm and bruising to the left and right side of his head.

The court heard from Bhatia’s lawyer, Mario Licha, who said his client had tried to give the two-year-old CPR after he choked on a jalapeño from a pizza and claimed the head injury was because the child slipped on water and hit his head on a glass coffee table.

“The child has previously choked on a banana and my instructions are that a doctor advised him to give the child several hits on the back if he chokes,” Mr Licha said.

Magistrate David O’Neil asked why the child had injuries to the head, face, leg and arm if a doctor advised Singh to only administer hits to the back if choking.

“My instructions are when he was trying to dislodge whatever was affecting the child, he hit the child on the back to dislodge.”

The court heard Bhatia had allegedly told the child in relation to the incident, ‘you slipped, didn’t you?’

Bhatia, who runs a large business, was refused bail with Mr O’Neill not convinced he wouldn’t interfere with witnesses.

The matter will return to court next month.