Preet said there had been few signs at home that Vijay was being bullied prior to his death.
“He was absolutely normal,” she said.
“He didn’t show any signs of upset, struggle or suffering from any sort of mental health.”
After his death, Vijay’s family found the poem he had written and later found out, through a family friend, that he had been bullied.
“The bullying he experienced was because of his identity and how he looked – as a turban-wearing Sikh person,” Preet explained.
“He would be taunted at school, when he was playing football, and when he was walking home.
“Vijay was called names like [a highly offensive racist term].
“These people didn’t know where he came from or what his religion was.”
Preet, who is now a mother herself, said it had been very difficult knowing that things might have been different for Vijay had he been able to open up to someone.
“He was quite a confident person until he experienced these issues at school,” she explained.
“Maybe he thought he wasn’t as strong if he showed a different side, but we can’t know.”
