Brazil robbers kill boy because he wouldn't stop crying

Sao Paulo, June 29 (IANS/EFE) Robbers who assaulted the home of a Bolivian couple before dawn Friday in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo killed their only child "because he wouldn't stop crying", police officials said.

The mother identified the boy as five-year-old Bryan Yanarico Capcha and told police that six armed men had broken into their home.

The married couple, who came to the city at the beginning of the year to work in a clothing factory, gave the assailants the 4,500 reais ($2,000) they had in the house, but the criminals wanted more money, the woman told police.

Police officials cited in the media said the boy, who was in his mother's arms, "would not stop crying", which irritated one of the assailants who shot him in the head.

The criminals fled immediately and the child was rushed to a nearby hospital, but died on the way.

In recent years Sao Paulo has become the destination of thousands of Bolivians looking for a better future, often in the textile industry.

Human rights organizations estimate the number of Bolivians living in Sao Paulo at some 100,000, most of them illegally and many the victims of slave-labour practices in the textile industry.

--IANS/EFE

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