A UK mayor says he will investigate the death of Shukri Abdi, a Somali schoolgirl bullying victim who was found dead in a river.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Bunrham says he will consider calls for further investigation into the death of a schoolgirl in the River Irwell.
Shukri Yahye-Abde, 12, was pulled from the water near Bury town center after failing to return home from school in June last year.
At an inquest into her death earlier this year, Shukri Abdi’s mother said her daughter – who was born in a Kenyan refugee camp to Somalian parents before moving to the UK in January 2017 – couldn’t swim and was ‘scared’ of water.
Speaking to the BBC’s Asian Network, Mr Burnham said ‘a huge number of people’ had contacted him about the case.
He added: “Some 6,000 emails have been received.
“It was a really sad case. I did look at it at the time and I could not see, and the police could not find, direct evidence that there was wrongdoing.
“Clearly, it is unresolved because of the nature of the level of concern.
“So what I can say… I will look into the case again and I will consider the call for a further investigation into it.”
Shukri Abdi’s loved ones have questioned the police investigation. They said they do not believe her death was an accident.
GMP insists it was was an ‘incredibly tragic incident’ and that there were no suspicious circumstances.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced last August it would investigate GMP’s handling of the case.
It said it would examine an allegation officers ‘prematurely concluded’ Shruki’s death wasn’t suspicious – and that her family was treated less favorably because of their ethnic background.
The IOPC investigation was completed earlier this year. The results have been shared with GMP and Shukri’s family.
The details will be made public following the conclusion of the inquest into the child’s death.
The IOPC’s regional director Amanda Rowe said: “The complaints we received following the death of Shukri Abdi were treated with the utmost seriousness and very carefully assessed.
“Our investigation, into the actions of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), was completed in January this year.
“Our final report has been shared with the force, and with Shukri’s family. We plan to publish our report following the future inquest, and our thoughts remain with all those affected by her tragic death.”
The inquest into Shukri’s death, which was adjourned in February, heard that moments before she was last seen, one of the girls she was with said she was ‘going to kill her if she didn’t get in the water’.
The child – referred to as ‘Child 1’ for legal reasons – confessed to her guardian she made the comment, but that it had been in ‘a laughing and joking manner’.
A petition calling for ‘Justice for Shukri Abdi’ has been signed by more than 500,000 people.
