By ANN TAN

GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA - A man fell to his death from a flat in Rifle Range here after allegedly torching himself in a bizarre incident that could be linked to occult.

Residents saw the unidentified man slumped on the ground with his body still engulfed in flames in the 10pm incident on Saturday and immediately poured pails of water from their balcony to put out the fire.

A thorough check by the police later found a vacant unit on the 11th floor, which door had been broken into.

Besides an empty bottle smelling of kerosene and a lighter in the unit, a hexagram within a circle had been drawn on the floor of the living room.

The hexagram - believed to be used to summon demons - created speculation among residents that the victim's death could be associated with black magic.

Although the police discovered two stacks of RM1 notes with a few coins in the kitchen, the victim's MyKad was missing.

However, George Town OCPD Azam Abd Hamid dismissed such speculations, adding that police was investigating the case as a possible suicide.

'We did not find anything suspicious at the scene,' he said, adding that the victim's body had been sent to the Penang Hospital for a post-mortem.