News

Footage from CCTV cameras from one of rehabilitation centers for children with disabilities in the town of Surgut has become public today. The footage is called A Kind Wizard and shows how an employee of the facility holds child’s arms during lunch apparently hurting him. Instead of qualified medical aid or just human sympathy, all the 7-year-old boy got from an attendant was a slap on the head. After that the two women put the child on the floor and left him there lying for several hours. During all those hours the staff, including nurses, ignored the crying blind boy who simply could not stand up on his own. As became known later, the boy got his arm broken. He was taken to a hospital and for now he has had surgery. He is still getting treatment.

The incident happened on 4 May and was reported to the police then, who arranged a check. However, you can’t stay silent about such treatment of children and today it got the publicity it should have. After the footage got into the Internet the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area-Yugra Directorate of the Investigative Committee immediately arranged that the materials should be transferred to the directorate for thorough and impartial investigation. After considering the files received from the police and following the order by Alexander Bastrykin, the Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation in a crime under Part of Article 238 of the RF Penal Code, Part 2, item “c” of Article 112 (provision of services that do not meet safety standards; deliberate infliction of medium-range bodily harm to a child).

The investigators are going to examine closely the role of the rehab management, the qualification and training of its staff, as well as their “professional” methods. The investigators will also scrutinize the documents and history of the center to analyze all the reasons and conditions that may have contributed to the crime and will find out whether there have been any similar cases when the staff tortured the patients. Additionally, the investigators will see if the checks performed by the police were enough and thorough, since no forensic medical examination had been assigned to assess the damage sustained by the child until today, when the Investigative Committee had to interfere.

Head of Media Relations                                                                                                                              V.I. Markin