It began as friendly wrestling and finished with assault. At a party a few weeks ago,Vasilij Nokhrin suffered several blows to the face and had to spend the night in the hospital. Now he has started a Facebook page to find the perpetrator.
It all started at a party at Kämnärsrätten in mid-February. Russian-born Physics student Vasilij Nokhrin made his way past a guy in the crowded banquet room and bumped into him.
When he was introduced to the same guy by another party-goer, the man shoved Vasilij Nokhrin, who pushed back. A wrestling match that Vasilij perceived as friendly erupted.
“Beaten in the face”
But the commotion continued and the guy threw Vasilij Nokhrin onto his back on the armrest of an armchair.
“It killed my back and I was afraid I had injured it. I ended up on the floor, then, and when I lay down, the guy sat on me. When I attempted to remove him, he started beating me in the face before any of the other people at the party managed to get him off,” says Vasilij Nokhrin.
“A terrible experience”
The police arrived on the scene, and after
questioning some party-goers, they drove Vasilij Nokhrin to the hospital, where he had to stay overnight because of suspected neck injuries and broken bones in his face.
Vasilij Nokhrin survived without any lasting harm. But now, a few weeks after the incident, he is still swollen in the face and one of his eyes is red.
“It was a terrible experience for me and I will do everything to bring the guy to justice,” he says.
Searching for witnesses on Facebook
Therefore he has started a Facebook page urging witnesses to come forward in order to get information about who the attacker might be. He has also offered a sum of SEK 10 000 to anyone who can help him get the perpetrator convicted.
“I hope the money will serve as a driving force to get people to come forward. The purpose of this site is not only to bring the guy to justice but also to show the public that this is a serious incident that can not be taken lightly,” he says.
Filed a police report
Vasilij Nokhrin has also filed a police report about the incident, but does not believe his case has a big chance of being resolved.
“The police have said they can not do anything in my case because there aren’t any witnesses who are one hundred percent sure. Had I known that the police had a good chance of solving the case, I would not have started the Facebook page,” he says, and says he will forward any information he finds to the police.
May hamper the police investigation
Lund police inspector Malcolm Goethe believes that one should be careful not to be their own police force.
“The risk is that you yourself may be guilty of crimes, such as pointing out someone who can show themselves to be innocent. It can also hamper the police investigation if people talk to witnesses, for example. It can influence them and lead to difficulties with the evidence,” he says.
But he admitted an advantage with the use of social media in this context:
“It is good to use social media to search for information and it is okay. If you find any information, you should send it to the police directly, but it’s not recommended to begin to investigate the case itself. ”
Translation by Samantha Sunne
