Police investigating the apparent suicide of an 11-year-old Bradford boy amid claims he was bullied at school are probing new evidence that he was beaten up in the playground hours before his death.

Detectives examining the reasons for the tragic hanging of Asad Khan are sifting through huge amounts of information being provided by the public shocked by the schoolboy’s death.

They include a claim that he was assaulted by a group of older boys at his school, Beckfoot Upper Heaton, on Wednesday lunchtime.

Asad was found hanged in his bedroom, at home in Tile Street, Whetley Hill, Bradford, by his mother, Farheen Jan, soon after 4pm the same day, after telling her he wanted to change schools.

Yesterday, Asama Javed, a governor of Iqra Primary School, which Asad attended until July, told how her nephew, a pupil at Beckfoot Upper, had witnessed the boy being bullied on the day of his death.

Mrs Javed said: “My nephew said he saw some sixth formers hitting Asad in the playground at lunchtime. He told a teacher, who said they would be dealt with on Friday.”

Mrs Javed said she had also seen a video purporting to show some boys telling Asad to lie down, and encouraging others to jump on him.

She has reported her claims to police.

Mrs Javed said: “I have been to see Asad’s mother and she is in complete and utter shock. She is not eating or talking. It’s horrific.

“These things need to be investigated and I am going to raise this with the school. I am not saying that any person is to blame for what happened, but if we can learn lessons from this tragedy to identify where we can help vulnerable children, we must do so.

“Our children need to be educated so they are confident to tell someone about it if they are having problems.”

Detective Inspector Alan Flynn, of Bradford District CID, who is leading the investigation, said police were receiving a large amount of information from the public which would take time to process.

Det Insp Flynn said: “There is a lot of ongoing work to clarify what was going on in this young lad’s life prior to his death.

“We are looking for information from the community and we are setting up a specialist email address for the public so they can provide any information or evidence, including visual, that could assist us in understanding what has occurred.”

Det Insp Flynn said a post-mortem examination would be taking place to establish an exact cause of death.

He added: “We know this young lad was unfortunately found hanging by his family.

“There is nothing suspicious in the tragic death itself. Clearly we are trying to establish what he was feeling, and what was going on in his life before he died, for the sake of his family, and the coroner.”

He went on: “Clearly we are receiving reports that there may have been a bullying issue. I cannot corroborate that. If we receive information that he was being bullied, we will look into that.

“Bullying is not a criminal offence. But if there is criminal behaviour, like assault, we will look at it.”

A petition has been set-up in Asad's name called Bite Bullying in the Bud. It calls for lessons about the damage bullying can cause to be part of the curriculum and has received more than 15,000 signatures. You can add your name here.

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