After having endured what we believe was relentless bullying, unfair treatment and institutional racism as a student police officer with West Yorkshire Police, our kind and ambitious 21 year old son took his own life on 3rd March, 2023. Our family is now fighting for a full and fearless inquest to uncover the systemic failures that led to his death; seeking justice not only for Anu, but also to prevent such tragedies from happening to other young people. We cannot do this on our own. Please help us to fund this crucial legal battle.

This October, after over a year and a half of legal meetings, casework and court hearings, we will be attending Anu’s inquest. We are now fundraising to cover these legal costs. 

Anu’s story

We would like to begin by sharing who Anugrah, known as Anu to his friends and family, was and is, and to thank you for visiting our page. 

Anugrah means ‘God's grace’ and Anu did have grace. He was kind, gentle, clever and honest. He was a son, a brother and a friend. Anu was trustworthy, calm and generous, often wanting to be there for others and to support those he loved. He never raised his voice, and, above all, Anu was always there for his family, whom he adored and loved to spend time with. 

On Friday 3rd March 2023 Anu went missing and never returned home to us. 

We are concerned that as a student police officer on his first placement with West Yorkshire Police, Anu felt harassed and unsupported. He faced institutional racism and bullying which led to severe stress and anxiety that he was left to navigate on his own. At just 21 years old, Anu took his own life.

Since that night, our family’s lives have changed forever. We grieve for our son and we ache for the pain and the pressure he felt in an environment that claimed to protect and support him and yet isolated him and made him feel he was not good enough. Yet, we cannot forget how our Anu always had a clear and optimistic outlook on life. It is his hopeful outlook that keeps us fighting to have his voice heard. 

Anu was ambitious. This is what ultimately led him to embark on a degree apprenticeship to join the police force, where he thought he would progress, learn new skills and be able to serve the local community. We supported Anu and encouraged him – never thinking that his university and his workplace would fail and mistreat him. We are worried that the lack of support, the institutional racism, the constant bullying and microaggressions which he had to face everyday whilst on his student placement at West Yorkshire Police are what ruined his mental health and eventually led to his death. As one supporter has noted: “This is not about Anu; it is about ensuring no other family has to endure this pain.”

Our family’s fight

In instances of sudden death, families are left with no time to grieve. They are plunged into a legal system for which they are unprepared. Since Anu's death, our fight to uncover what we feel were the systemic inadequacies at both West Yorkshire Police and Leeds Trinity University have meant that we have had to worry about how to pay for our fight for justice, rather than grieve our son.

Our MP Christian Wakeford supports our campaign. He has asked for greater recognition and support for student police officers in the House of Commons and posted the following on social media:

“The tragic death of Anu must never be forgotten. His life and his family deserve justice as the bare minimum. I agree with the Leader of the House, this shouldn’t have happened, nor should it happen ever again.” 

Anu's death should not have happened. We are no longer prepared to continue to allow our children to be at the mercy of institutions that do not value their lives. We will not grieve silently and allow those that caused Anu to take such a devastating action, to walk away without being held accountable. 

How much we are raising and why

We face a mounting financial burden. Our legal costs currently stand at £60,000.00 total. We have just 6 weeks to raise this amount.

At the moment, we have an initial target of £5000.00 though we need to reach and surpass this initial amount. With your help, we aim to cover both solicitor’s and counsel’s costs for the inquest. This is while the institutions we challenge don't have to worry about who will fund their legal costs. Their defence gets picked up by the taxpayer - whilst families like ours have to rely on the generosity of strangers and crowdfunding pages such as this one. 

This is a side of campaigning that is not often talked about and the costs are prohibitive. With your support, we will continue to fight for our son in order to honour his name and prevent such tragedies from happening to any other young person.

So we ask our community of friends and supporters to continue to share Anu’s story, and hold those responsible for his death to account. Thank you for reading Anu’s story – please continue to see our Facebook and X pages for more regular campaign updates and remembrance posts for Anu:

• https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092194685923

• https://twitter.com/Justice4Anugrah

• https://linktr.ee/justiceforanugrah

You can read our family statement, one year on, here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTV9KukUHopUX8HVLuemCtNqU8GYPypVkUJ3njKHAxFlykSXqo1oeP3lLrpLHAChQ754A4EwJ8ClkGb/pub

You are welcome to attend the inquest in October if you would like to support us. For more details, follow our facebook and X pages for updates during this time.