17 Aug 2004
Papar: A 17-year-old labourer who was hunting for wild
boar here was killed after the bakakuk (home-made shotgun) he was using
accidentally discharged and the round hit him on Sunday.
Ben Johnson Severinus, a local, was hunting in the jungle,
about a 45-minute walk from the roadside at Km 27, Jalan Ulu Kimanis, where
he had parked his father's light truck.
Police said a post-mortem report showed the shotgun round
had entered his abdomen and lodged itself near his lungs.
He was found lying in pain under a six-foot high makeshift
platform built to shoot wild boar from.
District Crime Officer, ASP Shivananthan V., said Ben had
driven away in his father's car early evening after getting home from work.
When he did not return home by 9pm, his mother began to
worry, prompting his father and uncle to go out to look for him.
They found the truck parked on the roadside and began
looking for him in the jungle.
Ben was rushed to the district hospital after he was
found, but he succumbed to his injuries while on the way.
Police were alerted of the incident at 1am, upon which
they sent a party to the scene, where they found the illegal shotgun. Police
do not suspect foul play, said Shivananthan.
He said they were investigating who actually owned the
bakakuk and where it was obtained, adding Ben's parents told police they did
not even know their son had a gun.
Shivananthan advised villagers here against owning such
firearms as it is not only illegal, but also not safe to use.
