Peru’s new President José Jerí refused to resign on Thursday (October 16, 2025) following the death of a protester during a massive demonstration led by Gen Z activists demanding he step down.

About 100 people were also injured, including 80 police officers and 10 journalists, according to authorities, who said they were investigating the shooting and killing of the protester.

“My responsibility is to maintain the stability of the country; that is my responsibility and my commitment,” Mr. Jerí told the local press after visiting Peru’s Parliament, where he said he would request powers to combat crime.

The protests began a month ago, calling for better pensions and wages for young people, and expanded to capture the woes of Peruvians tired of crime, corruption and decades of disillusion with their government.

After Mr. Jerí, the seventh President in less than a decade, was sworn in on October 10, protesters called for him and other lawmakers to resign.

Explained | Peru’s intensifying anti-government protests, political crisis, and violence 

Protests turn violent

Peru’s prosecutor’s office announced on Thursday that it was investigating the death of 32-year-old protester and hip-hop singer Eduardo Ruíz, who prosecutors said was shot by firearm during the mass demonstration of thousands of young people. It wrote on the social media platform X that it has ordered the removal of Ruíz’s body from a Lima hospital and the “collection of audiovisual and ballistic evidence in the area where the incident occurred, in the context of serious human rights violations”.

Local media and security cameras showed video of Ruíz collapsing in a Lima street after a man fleeing from several protesters fired a shot. Witnesses said the shooter was running away because he was accused of being a plainclothes police officer infiltrated among the demonstrators.

At least 24 protesters and 80 police officers were injured in the demonstrations, according to Peru’s Ombudsman’s Office. Six journalists were struck by pellets and another four were assaulted by police, according to the National Association of Journalists.

The President expressed regret over the protester’s death.

Global trend

The Peruvian protests come amid a wave of protests unfolding across the world, driven by generational discontent against governments and anger among young people. Protests have broken out in Nepal, the Philippines, Indonesia, Kenya, Peru and Morocco, with protesters often carrying black flags with the “One Piece” anime symbol — a pirate skull wearing a straw hat.

In Lima’s main plaza, 27-year-old electrician David Tafur said he decided to join the demonstration after learning about it on TikTok.

“We are fighting for the same thing — against the corrupt — who here are also killers,” he said, referring to violent 2022 protests and government crackdown in which 50 people were killed.

Why Gen Z is taking to the streets | In the U.S., Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and now, Nepal 

Controversial new President

The escalating tensions come just days after Peru’s Congress ousted President Dina Boluarte, who was known as one of the least popular Presidents in the world for repressing protests and failing to control crime.

Mr. Jerí, the 38-year-old President of Congress, then took office, promising to get a recent crime wave under control. He swore in Ernesto Álvarez, a ultraconservative former judge active on social media, as Prime Minister.

Mr. Álvarez has not yet commented on it, but previously claimed that Peru’s Gen Z is a “gang that wants to take democracy by storm” and does not represent “the youth who study and work”.

Criticisms of Mr. Jerí and his government quickly emerged because he previously faced an investigation after being accused by a woman of raping her. The prosecutor’s office dismissed the case in August, though authorities continue to investigate another man who was with Mr. Jerí the day of the alleged rape. Protesters also condemned Mr. Jerí because as a legislator, he voted in favour of six laws that experts say weaken the fight against crime.

Protesters demanded Mr. Jerí and other lawmakers resign and repeal the laws they say benefit criminal groups.

During the protest, more than 20 women shouted “The rapist is Jerí” or “Jerí is a violin” — a slang expression in Peru where “violin” means rapist. Protesters launched fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas and rubber pellets.

Why was Indonesia rocked by protests? | Explained

Frustrations grow

That anger was built upon decades of frustration by Peruvians, who have seen their leaders, year after year, plagued by corruption scandals, fuelling a feeling of cynicism and deception in many of Peru’s youth.

“After the pension issue, other frustrations followed — linked to insecurity, the erosion of state capacity in Peru, and corruption,” said Omar Coronel, a sociology professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, who studies social movements.

Violent scenes from the protest drew back memories of violent protests in the early months of Ms. Boluarte’s government, when 50 protesters were killed.

Protesters held signs reading “Protesting is a right, killing is a crime”. One woman carried a poster that read “From a murderess to a rapist, the same filth”, criticising the change in government.

“For me, it is about outrage over abuse of power, corruption and killings,” said Tafur, the protester.

Published – October 17, 2025 06:41 am IST

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Saturday said she would not resign after her house was raided as part of inquiries into possible illicit enrichment and failure to declare ownership of luxury watches.

Some 20 officials from the public prosecutor’s office and 20 police raided Boluarte’s house on Friday night, and the palace on Saturday morning.

“I took office with clean hands and thus I will retire from the presidency in 2026,” she said at a press conference, calling the raids a “disproportionate” measure and “abusive.”

Boluarte’s house is located in the Lima district of Surquillo, a few kilometres from the palace where she works.

“Personnel from the palace provided all the facilities for the diligence requested,” the presidency said on social media platform X, adding that it was carried out “normally and without any incident.”

However, Peruvian Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen also criticized the raids. “The political noise that is being made is serious, affecting investments and the entire country,” he wrote on X. “What has happened in the last few hours is disproportionate and unconstitutional actions.”

Two weeks ago, prosecutors began preliminary inquiries following a media report by internet program La-Encerrona that the president possessed several Rolex watches.

The inquiry intended to establish whether there were grounds for a formal investigation of the president.

Boluarte, in office since December 2022, has acknowledged that she owns Rolex watches, which she said she had bought with money she earned since she was young.

The prosecutor’s office had tried unsuccessfully last Wednesday to conduct a check of the watches at Boluarte’s office, but her lawyers said there was a clash of diary appointments and sought to reschedule the appointment.

The inquiry into Boluarte is the latest in a long history of probes into Peruvian presidents and senior officials.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Police and prosecutors stand outside President Dina Boluarte’s house during a raid aimed at seizing Rolex watches as part of a preliminary investigation into alleged illicit enrichment in Lima, Peru, on March 30, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Televised images swept Peru late on March 29 of government agents from an investigative team breaking into the President’s residence with a sledgehammer in a raid authorized by the judiciary at the request of the attorney general’s office.

Dina Boluarte is being preliminarily investigated for possessing an undisclosed collection of luxury watches since she came to power in July 2021 as Vice President and Social Inclusion Minister, and then as President in December 2022.

Initially, she claimed ownership of at least one Rolex as a long-held possession acquired through “personal gains” since the age of 18, urging the media not to delve into personal matters.

Earlier in the week, Attorney General Juan Villena criticized Ms. Boluarte’s request to delay her appearance before the court for two weeks, emphasizing her obligation to cooperate with the investigation.

Political turmoil is nothing new in Peru, which has seen six presidents in the last five years. But many see Ms. Boluarte’s recent statements as contradicting her earlier pledge to speak truthfully to prosecutors, exacerbating a political crisis stemming from her unexplained ownership of Rolex watches.

The Attorney General emphasized Boluarte’s obligation to promptly produce the three Rolex watches for investigation, cautioning against their disposal or destruction.

Ms. Boluarte, a 61-year-old lawyer, ascended from a modest district official to vice president under President Pedro Castillo in July 2021, subsequently assuming the presidency in December 2022 following Castillo’s impeachment after he attempted to dissolve congress and rule by decree.

At least 49 people were killed in the protests that followed.

Critics accuse Ms, Boluarte’s government of taking an increasingly authoritarian bent as it staves off demands for early elections and works with members of congress on laws that threaten to undermine the independence of Peru’s judicial system.