The investigation into the suicide of a 15-year-old boy who was being bullied at school is expected to take at least three months, according to the head of the school group LVO Parkstad.

The aim of the investigation is to find out exactly what happened and to make sure that pupils are better able to defend themselves in future, Frank Schings told regional broadcaster L1.

The family of the boy, named as Tharukshan Selvan, say his school had done nothing to help despite being alerted to the problem and previous suicide attempts.

The police are currently investigating the claims. According to the family, four pupils at the school were behind most of the bullying.

Tharukshan, whose family comes from Sri Lanka, killed himself a day before the end of the Christmas holidays. According to his sisters he had been the target of online bullying after the family stopped his allowance. He had been spending money on buying fast food meals and gifts for his classmates and they refused to pay him back.

‘They would throw food at him, insult his skin colour and appearance,’ the sister said. Messages were placed online telling him ‘you are not fit to live. We don’t want you. We’d be happy without you. Jump in front of a train. Commit suicide,’ the sister said.