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Mum Esther was clearly as excited as any other when her little boy started his first week of school last September.

Posting a picture of her four-year-old Chadrack in his uniform on Facebook mum, she added just one word: "Love"

But barely a month later both of them were found dead in their flat in the most tragic of circumstances.

Esther Eketi-Mulo is believed to have suffered an unexpected and fatal epileptic fit some time around October 1 or 2 last year.

Her son Chadrack, who was autistic and mute, was unable to feed himself or raise the alarm.

Over the course of the next two weeks, he slowly starved to death.

When the pair were finally discovered on October 20, little Chadrack was found still clinging to his mother's badly decomposed corpse.

(Image: Facebook) (Image: Facebook)

A coroner ruled he died of dehydration and malnutrition with his autism a contributory factor.

Neighbours on the Trelawney Estate in Hackney, north London, say they have been left "haunted" by the case which has led to calls for a review of how schools deal with unexplained absences.

A coroner heard how staff at Chadrack's school, Morningside Primary, had visited the home twice and rang several times in early October but could not get in.

They had no contact details for any other friend or relative.

Neighbours thought the strong smell coming from the flat was Esther's cooking.

One told the Hackney Gazette: "It has haunted me for a long time, that I could have helped, and I didn’t know.

The tearful mum continued: "I have a little boy and [Chadrack] only just needed feeding and watering.

"He passed away because he was hungry, not because something happened to him.

"I keep thinking to myself: ‘Did I hear him? Did I hear him next door?’ But he never spoke. Never.

"He just hid behind his mum and held onto her clothes.

"He couldn’t even call out or speak through the letterbox."

(Image: ARCHANT\\alwakeelr)

(Image: Facebook)

It is understood Esther came to the UK from the Congo.

Friends set up a fundraising page to help with costs of her funeral in the aftermath.

A message read: "This money we are raising is to help the family deal with the lose (sic) of Esther and her son Chadrick and give them both the send off they deserve. Everyone is devastated by her sudden and tragic death. She was a mother, sister, aunty, cousin…"

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."

(Image: ARCHANT\\alwakeelr) (Image: Facebook)

The Coroner said: "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 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.

Ms Hassell said: "If a child unexpectedly fails to attend and no relevant adult can be contacted via phone, staff at the school do not now wait three to five days as they did then, but instead immediately send a member of staff to the family home."

"They now make a distinction between an attendance issue that may warrant a penalty (not the case for Chadrack because he was under the age of five years) and a potential welfare issue.

"If there is no answer at the family home when staff members attend, they now immediately contact the police, who in most cases are likely to force entry.

"This protocol seems very sensible, but is clearly driven by the appalling tragedy of Chadrack’s death.

"It seems unlikely that other schools in Hackney, elsewhere in London, or indeed in the rest of England & Wales, have such a system in place."

Morningside headteacher Janet Taylor said the school had followed its procedure for checking on children missing from school, Schools Week reports.

“Chadrack’s tragic death has devastated all those who knew him at our school,” she said.

“We will remember him as a happy little boy and the circumstances of his death are heartbreaking.”

Ms Hassell wrote to the children’s minister Edward Timpson about absence procedures followed by schools.

Mr Timpson has until June 19 to respond to the coroner.