Manama: A police patrol in Kuwait had to step in to stop a brother from completely shaving off his sister's hair after he suspected her of receiving flirty messages.

The brother reportedly had doubts that his sister was getting love expressions on her mobile and managed to sift through the content of her inbox.

Upon finding messages, he confronted her, but she told him that they were classmates.

However, the infuriated brother was not convinced and he started shaving off her hair to punish her despite pleas from their worried mother, Kuwaiti daily Al Watan has reported.

The sister eventually managed to call the police who appeased the brother and reconciled the siblings.

Readers' reactions varied from an outright condemnation of the brother for "failing to sit and talk with his sister to explain the situation" to enthusiastic "support for moving decisively to help maintain the family's honour."