Belgorod: Russian doctor suspected of punching patient to death 'to pay for funeral'

A Russian doctor suspected of beating a patient to death in a shocking scene that was captured on camera has reportedly paid for the funeral costs to the relatives of the deceased.

Ilya Zelendinov's lawyer Sergey Krivorodko said his client regretted the incident, adding: "He is so sorry, I tell you honestly not as a lawyer. He is so truly sorry and can't understand how this could have happened," news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Krivorodko said that the surgeon paid the relatives of the deceased $1,200 (£825) to cover the funeral costs.

On Monday 11 January, Zelendinov was detained following an investigation after the incident on December 29 at a hospital in the southern city of Belgorod, 670km (440 miles) south of Moscow, where the doctor hit the 57-year-old patient Yevgeny Vakhtin in the face after he kicked a nurse during a procedure. The patient died from a brain injury after falling and hitting his head, the RBC newspaper reported.

The doctor is also seen scuffling with another man accompanying the patient and it is not noticed until minutes later that the first man is lying motionless on the floor after which other doctors try in vain to revive him.

Security camera footage of the incident was released online and caused uproar across Russia while the delay of the investigation of the footage has led to accusations of a cover-up.

The doctor is now expected to be charged with death through negligence that carries a two-year jail sentence.