A security guard has been detained following reports that he used a taser to subdue a 7-year-old suspected ice cream thief, news agency RIA Novosti reported Monday.
The Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper sent shockwaves after reporting Sunday that a private security guard employed by a branch of the Pyatyorochka market in Moscow shocked the child and then left him shaking on the ground.
According to MK, the boy and his friends went to the shop to buy some frozen treats. But as the children left the shop, a security guard approached, convinced the purported victim had stolen his ice cream. The guard then used his taser to subdue the 7-year-old, according to MK.
When the boy fell to the ground and started shaking, the guard headed back into the shop, MK reported. The ashen-looking boy was sent to the hospital, where doctors detected cardiac murmurs indicative of an injury caused by an electric shock.
MK featured photographs of the boy, revealing what the family claims was a wound left by the taser on the boy's torso.
The parents filed a complaint with the police. They claim to have attempted to sort out the situation with the guard before turning to law enforcement officials, but assert he threatened them.
The guard is currently being interrogated with regard to the case, RIA Novosti reported, citing police spokesperson Andrei Galiakberov. The police have reportedly launched an assault case in connection with the incident.
Thus far the man has maintained his innocence, telling police that he did not tase the child. He charged that rather than approaching him to resolve the situation, the parents approached him to threaten his life and demand money from him.
Meanwhile, outspoken children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov chimed in to the controversy: "If [the guard's guilt] is confirmed, he must be severely punished. We will prosecute the sadist," he wrote on Twitter.
Contact the author at m.evdokimova@imedia.ru
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