Authorities in Russia's Chelyabinsk region have launched separate investigations into the alleged "mistreatment" of an elderly patient at a psychiatric clinic.
The Investigative Committee's regional branch said on October 16 it had launched a preliminary investigation after a video posted on the Internet showed two nurses throwing slippers at an elderly patient and laughing at him.
One of the nurses is seen kicking the man's bottom.
The video, which appeared online earlier in the day, was shot in the psychiatric clinic No. 5 in the city of Magnitogorsk.
The clinic's chief, Dr. Aleksandr Belikov, confirmed to the RIA Novosti news agency that the video was shot in his facility in June, adding that he was ashamed over the incident and ready to resign.
A spokeswoman for the Health Ministry's regional department, Maria Khvorostova, said her ministry had also launched a probe into what she called "violations of a patient's rights."
The video was made public after the release of another video in July showing inmates being beaten by guards at a prison in the Yaroslavl region.
That incident brought the issue of torture in prisons and jails across Russia to the spotlight and caused a public outcry.
