Story By:  Elena Kalioglo, Sub Editor: Alex Cope, Agency: Central European News

This brilliant student – nicknamed the Peacemaker because he was always trying to settle arguments among friends – has died after he was allegedly beaten up by a drunk Russian cop.

Ivan Vahrusin, 17, who was a student at the Bryansk State Technical University (BSTU) had been visiting his family in the village of Lokot, which is also in the Bryansk Oblast in eastern Russia, when he saw an argument developing between a pal of the police officer and another local.

He stepped in to try and settle the dispute, and had then been asked by the police officer to step outside. According to eyewitnesses, the police officer had then offered his hand to the young student.

But when the teenager agreed to the handshake, he was then allegedly punched in the face by the police officer, and fell backwards smashing his head on a concrete step.

The eyewitnesses said he struggled to get back to his feet, but then passed out and was taken unconscious to hospital where he remained in a coma for two weeks before he finally died. Doctors tried to save his life and even carried out a four-hour operation but failed to bring him round, according to reports.

When his parents who live nearby heard that their son had been injured, they had rushed to the scene where the policeman allegedly showed no remorse, and even tried to attack the boy’s father.

One of the dead student’s friends told local media: “They bought him home today but only so the funeral can take place tomorrow. I don’t believe it’s possible for anyone to have been kinder and cleverer than he was. He was someone who would always step in when there were difficulties, he was always the first in line.”

The friend also confirmed that he was always nicknamed the Peacemaker because of his attempts to stop arguments. It was not revealed what course he had been studying.

The policeman who was reportedly a Major in the force before being fired a day after the attack was identified as Denis Terekhov, 36. It was also reported that he was drunk at the time.

A spokesman for the local Interior Ministry confirmed that the man had been fired within 24 hours for “committing an offence that damages the honour and reputation of the police force”. He is now being investigated for murder after the police initially opened a case of GBH before the boy died. It is unclear if the suspect has been arrested.

The dead boy’s mother said that the policeman’s wife and parents had visited her after her son had been hospitalised, and had offered money and help but she said: “I rejected it, I don’t want their money, I want my son.”

She also noted that none of them had asked for forgiveness for what had happened, and had tried to make her feel bad herself by pointing out that the man who allegedly carried out the attack had two children.

She said: “They told me that he was a good man and a good father and had simply been provoked by something unknown. It made me think, yes they have two children, but do they think that my husband and I don’t have children?”

Reports state friends of the boy had staged a fundraising campaign while he was sick, and transferred all of the money over to the parents to pay for medical bills.

They were thanked by the parents who said the outpouring of support from their son’s friends and help them during this difficult time.

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