The streets of Rio de Janerio erupted in large scale protests today as residents took to the streets after police shot and killed a young eight-year-old girl who was travelling home in a van driven by her mother last Friday.
The young girl named “Agatha Vitoria Sales Felix,” who was shot in the back by police is the 5th child to perish after being shot by police this year, bringing the total of people shot and slain by police this year to a record 1,249.
Residents of the poor neighbourhood of Alemão one of Rio’s largest and impoverished regions say they witnessed police targeting a motorcyclist when the deadly incident happened.
Agatha’s uncle Elias, who happened to be in the area when the incident occurred, has disputed the police version of the slaying telling local reporters that "A man came on a motorbike, and the police requested him to halt. He didn't and simply just left, he was without arms, and the police fired. There was no altercation, the only shot was from the police".
Critics of the new Governor Wilson Witzel who came to office this January say, that he is behind the killings due to the hardline approach he is using in an attempt to rid Rio De Janerio’s powerful drug gangs who are at the moment controlling the cities most deprived areas.
We here at WWB News will update you on this story as and when news comes in
Steve Simmonds
WWB News