Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Misdemeanour Court sentenced an 18-year old Arab national to three months in prison for being romantically involved with a minor, who committed suicide after starting a relationship with the youth over the internet.
The girl committed suicide last year by throwing herself from a window of her family home.
Gulf News had earlier reported that the girl had become very withdrawn at home, barely speaking to her parents and rarely ever leaving her room, where she was constantly at the computer.
Investigations revealed that the girl had often confided in the youth about suicidal thoughts and he had been telling her that he would follow her in death. The messages found on the victim’s phone, however, suggested that the defendant did not take the girl’s words seriously and he was, therefore, acquitted of abetting her suicide.
The youth will be deported after serving his sentence.
Records showed the girl asked her counterpart to meet her under her building before taking the fatal plunge. The youth went into a state of shock and, after calling the police, he made several attempts to take his own life as well.
Highlighting the case, the Judicial Department urged all parents to constantly monitor their children and ensure that they made time to talk to them, especially during their teenage years as children experienced a range of physiological changes that they were not often capable of understanding on their own.
