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PICTURED: Shukri Abdi (Photo credit: Family photo)

SHUKRI ABDI was found drowned in the River Irwell in Bury, in Greater Manchester, on 27 June - and now her family have claimed officers failed to carry out a full investigation and treated them differently because of their ethnic background.

Shukri's mother, Zam Zam Ture, told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire that the police failed to act when she reported her daughter missing.

10 hours later she was informed of her daughter’s death, describing the police as “not sympathetic”.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the death was a "tragic incident" and but did not believe there were any suspicious circumstances.
They have now changed their stance, telling the BBC it is "still investigating on behalf of the coroner.''

Ms Ture said the police spoke to her "harshly" and were "trying to convince [her] that her daughter had been swimming", which the family says was unlikely as Shukri could not swim, and had been wearing full Islamic dress.

The family insisted it would have been "out of character" for her to attempt to do so.

The family's lawyer Attiq Malik said: "The family's firm position is that they have only been treated in that way because of their race, and had it been a different racial background more sensitivity would have been given, more investigation would have been done,”

Institutional racism, he claimed, meant officers had acted in such a way without "even realising it”.

Shukri’s uncle Mustaf Omar, 29, added: “We are not happy with the lack of information in the report. It’s a whitewash. We hoped the school would interview Shukri’s mother for this report and other parents whose children might have experienced bullying but they weren’t approached.

“It was very insulting that we were asked to go to the police station to receive this school report. We asked for an interpreter for Shukri’s mum, Zam Zam, but there was no interpreter there. Zam Zam just sat there crying. In the end we walked out of the police station in protest about the way we were treated.”

Their claims are now being investigated by the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The IOPC said: "We treat complaints of this nature with the utmost seriousness, and I know GMP share the view that the IOPC has a responsibility to examine the actions of the force after Shukri was reported missing - not least for public confidence.”

Members of Shuri’s family have said she had been unhappy at school prior to her death, having reported a number of personal bullying incidents.

In a statement, headteacher at Broad Oaks Sports College, Paul Greenhalgh said the school was "deeply saddened to receive news of Shukri's tragic death".

"We are currently working with Shukri's family in respect of any concerns which have been raised about the school [and] will be reviewing all policies and procedures at the school," he added.

“In particular, we will focus on the school's anti-bullying policy and procedures and other policies relating to the welfare of children.”

An investigation has been launched into whether police treated Shukri’s family “less favourably” because of their ethnic background.

The Justice4Shukri campaign is set to hold a public meeting this Saturday to further investigate complaints of bullying at the school, and establish actions to prevent further tragedies from happening as well as call for transparency around the investigation into Shukri’s death.