PESHAWAR, June 18: A man committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a Kalashnikov rifle to protest against power cuts, his family said on Monday. Laiq Sher, 18, killed himself on Saturday after his relatives stopped him from blocking a road to vent his anger at blackouts in his village near Peshawar.

His uncle told reporters that he heard Mr Sher saying that he had no influence over the government but that he could control his own destiny. The young man then locked himself in his room and shot himself, he said.

Residents said Mr Sher was furious over persistent power cuts in his village, which received just two hours of low-voltage electricity a day.

Police said that they had no immediate information about the incident.—AFP