Man insults religion, tries to end life in police custody

dubai — A man on a visit visa has been sentenced to three months in jail after the court found him guilty of blasphemy and trying to commit suicide while in police custody.

The Court of First Instance also ordered the 28-year-old Jordanian man to pay a Dh5,000 fine. He will be deported after serving the jail sentence.

On July 3, the man was found guilty of consuming alcohol without a licence and was brought to the police station around 9.30pm.

Under the influence of alcohol, the defendant behaved aggressively, the public prosecution records show.

He was placed in detention pending the legal procedures. While being detained, he reportedly took a blade out of his wallet and self-inflicted cuts all over his body in a bid to end his life.

He would not let the paramedics take him to the hospital and became violent. The man allegedly insulted religion, in his aggressive and inebriated state.

He admitted during investigation that he had consumed alcohol in Ajman. But he denied having tried to commit suicide or having used foul language when talking about religion.

He claimed he only wanted to draw the officers’ attention as none was responding to his question on why he was taken into custody.

A policeman told the prosecutor the defendant was placed in detention after he was found sleeping next to the police office. “We woke him up and found he was drunk. Later on, we were alerted by the operation room that he had self-inflicted cuts. We went to where he was and found him bleeding. He would not let the paramedics tend to him. He was also uttering abusive words towards religion.”

mary@khaleejtimes.com