Nicki Minaj loses father in hit-and-run accident in Long Island

Nicki Minaj's father, Robert Maraj, lost his life last week in a hit-and-run accident in Long Island, New York. The suspect remains at large.

A statement by Nassau County Police revealed that Robert Maraj was hit by a vehicle in Mineola while he was taking a walk on the road between Roslyn Road and Raff Avenue around 6 p.m. local time. The 64-year-old was taken to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. According to TMZ, witnesses were unable to give authorities a description of the suspect. The incident remains under investigation.

Maraj was a financial executive and part-time gospel singer. He shared Nicki and four other children with Carol Maraj, who was also a gospel singer and worked in payroll and accounting departments. According to Nicki's interviews, he was addicted to alcohol and other drugs during his kids' childhood days and had a violent temper, which led to him burning down their house in December 1987, when Nicki was five.

She clarified that her father was never abusive towards her particularly, but it was how he always interacted. The musician also admitted that he got violent with her mother, and was attempting to kill her when he set fire to the house.

"She (Carol) got out before it burned all the way down. I've always had this female-empowerment thing in the back of my mind — because I wanted my mother to be stronger, and she couldn't be," Minaj told Details magazine in 2010.

A representative of Nicki Minaj confirmed the news of her father's death, but the rapper has not released any statement. It is not known how the Grammy-winner's relations were with her father in recent days, but there are pictures of them embracing over the years.

Her father's death comes just over a year after her brother Jelani Maraj was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after being convicted for child rape. The "Bang Bang" rapper supported her brother during the trial against him in which the defence argued that the allegations were fabricated in an attempt to extort $25 million from the musician. However, she never commented publicly on the case.

The 38-year-old welcomed her first child, a son, with husband Kenneth Petty in September last year.