People attend a march in tribute to Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop, in Nanterre, Paris suburb, France. (Image: Reuters)
Nahel was a teenager who depended on rugby to get by and was described as a good person by locals and did not possess a criminal record.
Nahel M, the 17-year-old French teenager, whose death has sparked riots in cities across France, especially in the neighbourhood of Nanterre in Paris.
Nahel M, who is of Algerian descent, is the only child of Mounia and did not know his father. He was working as a takeaway delivery driver and played rugby league, a report by the BBC said.
The teenager was training to be an electrician and was enrolled at a college. His education was chaotic and his record of attendance was poor. The police knew him but he did not have a criminal record.
However, he was well-known and loved in Nanterre. It was evident from the reaction of an ambulance driver who lived nearby and criticised the police officer who shot him for failing to stop at a traffic point.
The cop fired at Nahel point-blank, leading to the death of the teenager. The ambulance driver told the BBC that he was like an elder brother to Nahel and that Nahel grew up as a kind, helpful child.
French news agencies Le Parisien and AFP reported that Nahel’s mother and grandmother were inconsolable. “What am I going to do now? I devoted everything to him. I’ve only got one, I haven’t got 10 [children]. He was my life, my best friend,” Mounia said.
Nahel’s grandmother said he was a “kind, good boy”.
Nahel depended on rugby to get by and was playing for the Pirates of Nanterre rugby club which was run by the Ovale Citoyen. He was part of a programme which helped people from impoverished areas get into apprenticeships.
The president of Ovale Citoyen, Jeff Puech, said Nahel did not deal in drugs and did not enjoy having fun while committing juvenile crime. “He was someone who had the will to fit in socially and professionally, not some kid who dealt in drugs or got fun out of juvenile crime. He was a kid who used rugby to get by,” Puech said.
Nahel recently got into trouble though and most of those incidents involved automobiles. He was the subject of five police checks since 2021 due to his refusal to comply with orders to stop.
On the day of his death, he was stopped by the cops while he was in a car with Polish number plates and two passengers. He was too young to have a licence at the age of 17.
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