Wassim Hakim, a young Lebanese man who went missing from Rmeileh last week and was found dead on Tuesday. (Courtesy of: Hakim's sister, Nour Hakim)
BEIRUT — A young Lebanese man who was missing since last Tuesday was found dead in Saida, South Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported and an Internal Security Forces source confirmed to L'Orient Today.
The 35-year-old man, Wassim Hakim, was found with a gunshot wound in an orchard near Salhia, east of Saida, according to the NNA and confirmed by the security source. Security forces also found a "pump action" rifle next to the body.
A family member declined to comment to L'Orient Today on the incident.
Security forces, forensic evidence teams and a forensic doctor reportedly arrived to the scene to determine the cause of death, by order of the Public Prosecutor at the Appeal Court of South Lebanon, Judge Raheef Ramadan.
An informed judicial source told L'Orient-Le Jour the young man had died of suicide. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk with the press.
The reports — one by the criminal police who went to the scene of the tragedy and the other by the forensic doctor who examined the body — both indicated death by suicide, the source added.
In a video posted Sunday on social media, Nour Hakim, the missing man's sister, asked anyone with information about Wassim to contact her.
A source at the Internal Security Forces told L’Orient Today that the man had been struggling with mental health problems, and that his family contacted the police on Thursday to file a missing person's report two days after he had disappeared.