Former Oasis Academy Hadley pupil Krishna Chummun, of Edmonton, lay in morgue for 11 weeks before parents were told

Krishna Chummun, of Nelson Road, Enfield, went missing on August 7 and was was discovered in the Thames on October 10.

Detectives then went on to issue a missing persons appeal for him on  November 11 - and his family were not told of his death until December 26.

Now his parents, Chandrasen and Medha, want to know why so many "catastrophic failures" took place.

Straight A-student Krishna had been upset and angry the night he disappeared but went off to play football with his friends.

When he did not make it home, his worried parents – who were packing to take their son, Kalvin, 12, back to school in Mauritius – decided to file a missing person’s report.

But when the police arrived to take statements, one officer joked: “He’d probably be too big to fit inside that suitcase”.

What followed was an “agonising” few months without any news of what happened to their son.

They say police did not keep them informed and friends gave up their weekends to drive around London to see if he was living on the streets.

Police claim his body was "impossible" to identify when it was found in the river, but they had already taken his toothbrush away for DNA evidence.

Mr Chummun, 51, said: “I feel as though we were just another case on the shelf. Nobody cared about us, the police didn’t seem to want to know or take us seriously.

“It felt like it’s because we are of an ethnic minority.”

Mr Chummun had asked police to tell him of any developments in their son’s case before his wife, who is weak after a stroke, so he could break any news to her gently.

But on Boxing Day, the family were preparing to have a low-key lunch with friends when the doorbell rang.

So they were stunned to find two policemen on their doorstep who they claim “charged” into their home, and simply told them they had found a body they thought was Krishna’s.

Mr Chummun said: “It was like they were delivering a parcel, there was no sensitivity there. My wife started to cry, she became hysterical.

“I was in shock. We were expecting the worst but we never lost hope. Nothing ever prepares you for something as bad as that. Until you lose a child, you can’t imagine that kind of pain. My boy, he is innocent. He didn’t deserve that.”

They are now calling for an independent enquiry into what happened and have approached the Independent Police Complaint’s Commission.

Mr Chummun said: “We have lost all faith in the police. I’m angry, if they’d pulled their weight in the first week we wouldn’t have had months of wondering what happened to our son. I know nothing will bring him back, but now we want justice. How they treated us was diabolical.

“We want to pressure on the police, I trusted them. My son is dead. Nothing will bring him back. My son is just a number to them – they didn’t even try.”

They have now sent their other son, Kalvin, 12, to school in their native Mauritius and are still trying to come to terms with Krishna’s death.

Krishna, a keen Man United fan, was in his first year of business management at BPP Law School in London and has a “bright” future ahead of him.

The former Oasis Academy pupil also enjoyed playing on his X-Box and “adored” British history.

His father added: “He was a very jovial, bubbly person. He was liked by almost everyone. He was a typical young boy – he was full of life.”

His mother said: “Every day is horrible for us. He was a lovely kid, he loved his friends but that’s been taking away from him.

“Now I look at his stuff and his photos but it is all I have left of him. It’s so hard, it’s difficult, I can’t stop crying.

“The police did nothing to help. This needs to be addressed.”

Meanwhile, the Met is treating his death as “unexplained” and have vowed to pursue any further leads “rigorously”.

In a statement, the police said: “He last communicated with his former partner between Friday and Saturday, August 7 and 8.

As it was not possible to identify the male pulled out of the river, specific forensic DNA testing was required to identify Mr Chummun.

“Whilst the MPS shares the family's frustration at the length of time this identification process takes to fully determine identity, it is unfortunately beyond our control.

“On this occasion all identifiable features, such as tattoos, were no longer present.

“In addition the description of clothing provided to the investigating officers differed from the clothing actually found on the body, including a differing shoe size.

“Whilst we refute any suggestion that the victim's race has had any bearing on the ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Chummun's death, we continue to liaise closely with the family and assist them in any way we can.”