A police officer on patrol was attacked and burned to death by protesters in the Peruvian region of Puno as the death toll from demonstrations in the wake of the ouster of former President Pedro Castillo rose to 47, Report informs referring to ABC News.
José Luis Soncco Quispe, 29, was on patrol with a fellow officer in Juliaca, a city near the border with Bolivia and Lake Titicaca, on Monday night when they were attacked by a mob that later set fire to their vehicle, according to police reports.
Soncco’s partner in the patrol car, Ronald Villasante Toque, said the men were “detained and physically attacked by some 350 protesters,” according to the reports.
Villasante was taken to a hospital in Lima with multiple head injuries after being beaten. He said he was unaware of what was happening to his partner.
Prime Minister Alberto Otárola confirmed Soncco’s death in a session of Congress, saying the men were attacked by protesters.
“Police arrived at the scene and found that one officer had been beaten and tied up, and the other, Luis Soncco Quispe, unfortunately had died,” he said. “He was burned alive in his patrol car.”
Otárola announced a three-day curfew from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. in Puno, and a day of mourning for the fallen.
Peru’s Ombudsman’s Office said that since the protests began in early December after Castillo's dismissal, 39 civilians had been killed in clashes with police and another seven had died in traffic accidents, as well as the fallen police officer.
The police officer’s death came after the killing of 17 people in Juliaca as protests seeking immediate elections resumed in neglected rural areas of the country still loyal to Castillo.
The unrest began following Castillo’s removal and arrest following a widely condemned attempt to dissolve Congress and head off his own impeachment.