Moscow, May 17 (IANS/RIA Novosti): A man who shot and wounded a drunken man in the central Russian city of Yelets turned out to be a priest, who said he was defending his daughter, the interior ministry said.
A 25-year-old city resident was taken to hospital April 30, with a gunshot wound to his chest.
Although he refused to cooperate with police, they established that the day before, the victim and two other young men, who had been drinking, started harassing a girl who was going to church with her father, a clergyman.
The three young men and the priest, 53, got into a fight, in which he shot one of the men.
Police said the priest had used an illegal weapon - a gas pistol modified to fire live bullets. The priest, who was detained, said he had found the gun.
He has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm, which carries a penalty of two to eight years in prison.