Victim of hazing loses his legs and genitals after brutal rape and tortures
25.01.2006
A group of drunk servicemen was torturing a 19-year-old soldier for several hours
“A soldier must bravely and courageously endure all burdens and privations of the army service,” the Military Charter runs. The wording, however, receives a different perception in the Russian army, when so-called old files decide to make younger recruits experience all severities of the army service.
News messages about incidents of army hazing appear on a regular basis globally. Russia is not an exception at this point. News agencies periodically report about tortures, harassment, humiliation and even acts of group suicide in the Russian army.
The story, which took place in the beginning of January when Russia was celebrating New Year holidays, strikes imagination with its brutality. The drama happened in a training process battalion of the Higher Military Command Institute, the Chelyabinsk region of Russia. A group of drunk old-timers brutally beat eight of 40 soldiers staying in the barracks one night. Andrey Sychev, 19, suffered from the tortures most. The older soldiers were tormenting the young man for more than three hours. Sychev was subsequently hospitalized with gangrene of his both legs. Doctors had to amputate the soldier's legs and genitals. Andrey Sychev, recruited in 2005, is still in severe condition, news agencies report.
The young man's mother and sister have recently arrived in the city of Chelyabinsk. They visit Andrey at the hospital and say they will leave the city only when the investigation is completed.
The regional Office of the Military Prosecutor has already launched an investigation into the fact of hazing. Six suspects, two of them officers, have been arrested so far. The assaulters were making the soldier squat down for hours and did not let him stand up.
The information posted on the website of the Russian Office of the Prosecutor General says that the group of older servicemen was torturing and beating eight younger soldiers for several days. One of the assaulters was making Andrey Sychev remain motionless half-seated. “As a result of this violence, the victim suffered from the compression of leg and genital tissues, which subsequently led to the development of gangrenous inflammation,” a message from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia said.
Sychev was complaining of pain in the legs during the next three days. The young man was not given the appropriate medical aid and was hospitalized on January 4 when he could not go out of the barracks.
An unofficial version of the incident is different from the one of the investigation. A high-ranking official from the Chelyabinsk regional garrison who spoke on condition of anonymity said that private Sychev had been gang-raped for several hours. The military prosecutors are aware of the assault, but they were told not to expose the facts not to harm the image of the Russian Armed Forces, news agencies report.
According to the source,
the soldier was tied to a bunk for several hours while being raped. Doctors say that gangrene of a limb develops when blood flow to the limb is interrupted for four hours. The anonymous official added that the
fact of the brutal rape would be unveiled upon the command from higher military instances.
http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/cr...75000-hazing-0