KOTA MARUDU: A local man took his own life by shooting himself with a bakakuk, a home-made gun, in front of his wife-to-be’s house at Kampung Patiu here on Monday.
The body of Lily Sulaiman, 27, was found with a gunshot wound in his abdomen around 11.30pm on June 9.
The incident happened after an aunt allegedly took the unemployed man’s 17-year-old girlfriend to Kota Kinabalu to avoid the marriage.
It is believed that the broken-hearted man went to his girlfriend’s home and shot himself just outside the main entrance.
Several persons who were at the house at that time heard a loud sound before discovering the man lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
District police chief Superintendent Mohd Isa Yusuf confirmed the incident, saying preliminary police investigation showed there was no foul play in the man’s death.
He said the police found the ‘bakakuk’ next to the victim’s body and believed the victim had shot himself.
Mohd Isa said that although the police have classified the case as sudden dead, they would continue to investigate to determine the actual motive.
He said the victim’s body had been taken to the district hospital for a post-mortem.
Mohd Isa said the man was deemed unsuitable for the young girl although they had been dating for about three years.
It was learnt that on June 8, a day before the incident, Lily and his girlfriend were preparing items and money for the dowry as they were supposed to marry on the following day if her family did not object to it.
However, the girl’s aunt allegely took her to the city later the same day, June 8.