Man kills neighbour for taunting him about not being married, police say

They also frequently argued about their chickens going into each other’s coops

Persistent jibes about his bachelorhood provoked an Indonesian man to kill (Getty)

A man in Indonesia killed his neighbour for persistently asking why he wasn’t married, police said.

Parlindungan Siregar, 45, attacked Asgim Irianto, 60, a retired civil servant, with a piece of wood around 8pm on 29 July, the Straits Times reported. The incident took place in Tapanuli Selatan in northern Sumatra.

Assistant police commissioner Maria Marpaung said on 31 July that Mr Irianto ran out after Siregar attacked him but fell down after he was hit on the head. Siregar continued hitting him until their neighbours intervened.

They took Mr Irianto to a local community health centre but he died on the way.

Siregar was arrested shortly after and admitted to plotting his neighbour’s murder, Ms Marpaung said. She added: “He was determined to beat Mr Asgim to death because of the frequent taunts about his single status.”

Police said the neighbours didn’t share a particularly cordial relationship. They would argue over their chickens going into each other’s coops.

Last month, a man in Indonesia allegedly stabbed his friend to death after they got into an argument over which came first, the chicken or the egg.

The suspect, identified only as DR, stabbed Kadir Markus from Muna Regency in South East Sulawesi province at least 15 times after they got into a heated argument over the riddle on 24 July.