Teen found dead in bushes near his home in Menggatal

Abu Sabir sitting next to his brother’s body.

KOTA KINABALU: All Abu Sabir Abdullah wanted was to grant his younger brother’s wish - to replace his broken mobile phone with a new one.

On Friday (Jan 20), he quickly made his way home from where he worked in the northern Kota Belud district, some 70km away, to his village Kampung Delima in Manggatal near here to surprise 15-year-old Abdul Rahman Mohd Said with a brand new phone, just in time for Chinese New Year.

But it was not meant to be.

As soon as he reached home, family members broke the tragic news - his brother was no more.

Instead of handing the gift, all Abu Sabir, 18, could do was just weep next to Abdul Rahman’s lifeless body.

Abdul Rahman’s body was found face down in a swampy bush some 200m from their family’s residence.

It was suspected that he was electrocuted, a victim of illegal power connections.

"A few days ago, my brother phoned me, telling me that his mobile phone was broken and asked me to buy him a new one.

"I told him I would (probably) come back on Thursday (Jan 19) but it never crossed my mind I would never meet him (alive again)," Abu Sabir said, when met on Friday (Jan 20).

He said Abdul Rahman was actually his step brother but that he considered him as his own blood.

"I was very close to him, wherever I went I would bring him.

"But after getting a job in Kota Belud almost a year ago, we could only speak to each other on the phone.

"When he told me about the phone, I told him I would somehow get it and give it to him when I returned ... but sadly I never got to fulfil that," he added, as he wept, despite his best efforts to control his emotions.

Earlier, villagers found Abdul Rahman’s body at 8am on Friday and subsequently informed the family.

When contacted, Kota Kinabalu OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Zaidi Abdullah said initial examinations by medical officers from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital I (QEH I) found that the deceased had died due to electrocution.

At the same time, however, he said that the forensics unit from the Sabah police contingent was investigating the cause behind the fatality.

"So far we have not found any criminal element but investigations are still on-going," he said.

ACP Mohd Zaidi said the incident was classified as a sudden death report for now.