Man in court over threat to kill girlfriend if she ditched him
Suspect claims woman’s friend used his phone while he was sleeping to send threat messages to her
Dubai: A man has been accused of threatening to kill his girlfriend via WhatsApp and SMSs if she broke up with him.
The 23-year-old Indian man, U.S., allegedly sent text and WhatsApp messages between February and April to his 27-year-old Italian girlfriend, threatening to kill her and her family if she ditched him.
Prosecutors charged U.S. with threatening to kill the Italian woman verbally and in writing.
The suspect pleaded not guilty and refuted his accusations when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.
The suspect told presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi that he did not send any SMS or WhatsApp messages.
He argued that the claimant and he shared accommodation and, during that period, her friend used his phone to send messages of a threatening nature to her phone.
The Italian woman testified to prosecutors that the suspect sent her SMS and WhatsApp messages in which he said that he would kill her and her family if she broke up with him.
An Ethiopian saleswoman claimed to prosecutors that the incident happened when she went to visit her Italian friend, while she was still sharing the same accommodation in Tecom area.
“Once I entered the flat, she claimed to me that U.S. had sent her text and WhatsApp messages in which he threatened her. She claimed that they had had a fight that day. I saw one of the messages that was sent from the suspect’s phone in which he had mentioned that he would make her family disappear. We bumped into the suspect in several restaurants across Dubai and he constantly looked at us and smiled without saying a word,” she testified to prosecutors.
A policeman testified to prosecutors that when he questioned the suspect, the latter denied sending any messages to the Italian’s phone.
“He claimed that when she shared the same residence wit him, her friend took his phone while he was in bed and sent the messages to her [the claimant] phone. He further claimed that they had an emotional disagreement,” the policeman claimed to prosecutors.
A ruling will be heard next month.
