Kinshasa police officer shoots student for not wearing a mask

A student was shot dead by a police officer in Kinshasa on Saturday. The agent accused the young man of not wearing a mouth mask when recording a video, while Congo is currently experiencing a third corona wave. Local media reported this on Sunday.

“Our friend Honoré Shama, a literature student at the University of Kinshasa, was shooting a video for practical comedy lessons. An officer asked him to wear his mouth mask,” said Patient Odia, who witnessed the incident.

“Despite Honoré’s statements and after showing that he had a mouth mask with him, the officer became angry because the latter had previously expected him to receive money. The policeman then accused Honoré of being defiant and opened fire,” Odia said.

Mouth mask obligation

The mouth mask is mandatory in Congo-Kinshasa, on pain of a fine of 10,000 Congolese francs. In Kinshasa, police officers are more often accused of intimidating people and withholding collected fines.

Since the start of the corona pandemic, Congo has registered 47,786 infections and 1,021 deaths from the virus, according to the most recent statistics published by health authorities on Friday.

Since July 10, the vaccination has been suspended in the country because the available stock of the AstraZeneca vaccine has passed its expiration date.

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