Lankan electrician jailed for Facebook threat in UAE

A United Arab Emirates court sentenced a 33-year-old Sri Lankan electrician to three months in jail for threatening via social networking site Facebook that he would kill a Filipina co-worker if she did not marry him.

The Court of First Instance also ordered the Sri Lankan deported once he has served his sentence, the UAE-based news site Khaleej Times reported.

However, the report said the verdict is subject to appeal within 15 days. Jebel Ali Police arrested the defendant in April and seized his laptop after he was accused of using Facebook to threaten the Filipina waitress, 24.

Investigation showed the electrician allegedly sought help from other Facebook users to help him find a way to kill the Filipina. He also allegedly sent the Filipina a text message with the same threat. This prompted the filing of charges against him for threatening to commit a crime through the Internet.

During investigation, the electrician said he met the Filipina about two and a half years ago and they had been in a relationship for about one year. He claimed he lent her Dh1,000 and she did not repay him and started ignoring his calls.

But he admitted posting on his Facebook page that he wanted to kill her and that he asked people how he could do it. The Filipina told prosecutors she and the electrician used to work in the same hotel in Abu Dhabi. She said he proposed to her but she turned him down. She also said the electrician harassed her into marry him. She also said she eventually learned about the man's Facebook post about wanting to kill her. A Filipina staff supervisor who worked in the same hotel as the Filipina and the electrician testified seeing the threat posted on the electrician's page last March. Courtesy: Khaleej Times