Following calls by hundreds of thousands of people to review the case of Shukri Abdi’s death, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has said he will “look into the case”.
In June of last year, 12-year-old Somalian refugee Shukri Abdi died after drowning in the River Irwell in Manchester in the company of classmates from her school. Following her passing, the Greater Manchester police ruled out any suspicious circumstances surrounding the drowning and described it as merely a “tragic incident”.
However, an inquest into Shukri Abdi’s death revealed the classmates involved in the incident had a history of using racist language like “coloured” and “half-caste” and were bullying Shukri at school. It also came to light in an inquest in February that one of the classmates – who cannot be named for legal reasons – confessed to threatening to kill Shukri before her death.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) opened an investigation following complaints that Greater Manchester police officers “failed to conduct an effective investigation and prematurely concluded that the death of Shukri Abdi was not suspicious”.
Since then, thousands of people have been campaigning for justice for Shukri by reaching out to Mayor Andy Burnham and now he has finally responded, stating that he had received over 6,000 emails related to the case.
Speaking on BBC Asian Network, Burnham said: “Clearly it’s unresolved [be]cause of the nature of the level of concern,” he said during an appearance on the Big Debate. “So what I can say… I will look into the case again and I will consider the call for a further investigation into it.”
Burnham’s response to the public’s calls come after a petition was launched demanding justice for Shurki, which has been signed by over 600,000 people.