A four-year-old disabled schoolboy starved to death clinging to his mother’s body after he was left there with her corpse for more than two weeks.
Mute and autistic Chadrack Mbala Mulo was found with his arms wrapped around the decomposed body of his mum Esther Eketi-Mulo in their northeast London flat.
An inquest has heard how the heartbreaking find on October 20 came after Chadrack was unable to raise the alarm when his mum died at the start of the month after an epileptic fit.
Chadrack died of malnutrition and dehydration and autism spectrum disorder on October 18, according to a report into his death.
Neighbours at the Trelawney Estate in Hackney reportedly thought the stench coming from the family’s flat was from the mum’s cooking.
The case has now raised questions over school procedures when children are absent.
Coroner Mary Hassel said in her report: “Chadrack had learning difficulties and, when his mother died unexpectedly at home on 1 or 2 October 2016, he did not know how to call for help or feed himself properly.”
Staff at his school, Morningside Primary, had visited the home twice and rang several times in early October but could not get in.
The Coroner said: “They … could not gain access to the block of flats where Chadrack and his mother lived.
“The likelihood is that Chadrack lived alone in the family home for over a fortnight after his mother’s death.
“He was found a couple of days after his own death, with his arms around her (the mother) body.
“She was by then very decomposed.”
Ms Hassell has called for a new system to handle unexplained absences from school after the little boy had not attended since September 30.
She argued without action there was a risk of other similar deaths.
The inquest found the school had a telephone number for Chadrack’s mother, but not for any other family member or friend.
But now the school insist that for every child in the school they have the telephone number of three different adults.
Mirror
