A man in Abu Dhabi has been fined 20,000 dirhams and sentenced to 60 days in jail for calling his fiancee 'idiot' over a WhatsApp message.
According to Khaleej Times, the unnamed man sent his fiancee a message and referred to her as an idiot (habla in Arabic). Though he claims he used the word in jest, his fiancee took offence and filed a case against him.
This is one of the several cases filed in the country over a situation where one person says something jokingly but another takes it seriously.
Legal adviser Hassan al-Riyami explained to Emarat Al Youm that under the law sending anything of an offensive nature on social media is considered a cybercrime.
That's exactly what happened to this man, who paid for his joke with a prison sentence and a fine of approximately Rs. 4 lakhs!
This is not the first time that someone has been jailed in UAE for a text message. According to the Sun, in January this year, a British citizen in Dubai was arrested and jailed for sending his car dealer an angry text message.