Indian leaves UAE after being sacked for sending abusive texts to female journalist

Dubai: An Indian man has left the UAE after he was sacked from a company in Dubai following his abusive post against a compatriot woman journalist on social media and offensive remarks against Islam, according to a media report.

The 31-year-old employee, who worked at Alpha Paints - sister company of National Paint, left the UAE at 7 pm on Monday and returned to India, Khaleej Times reported, citing a human resources manager at the company.

The manager said the employee was sacked after the management launched an investigation based on complaints they received from UAE residents.

The employee then requested to leave the country immediately before serious legal action was taken against him.

"He's a newlywed man, and he knew the seriousness of the mistake he has committed. He broke the cyber crime law and was afraid that a serious legal action would be taken against him, so he asked to leave the country immediately," said the manager, stressing that the company had no influence behind his decision of leaving.

The employee sent abusive messages to Rana Ayyub, an investigative journalist based in New Delhi. Ayub exposed the vulgar messages on Twitter sent to her by the man, following which some of her followers reported the matter to the
management of the UAE company where the Indian worked, Gulf News earlier reported.

The employee identified as B B, from Kerala, joined Alpha Paint in Dubai in 2015. He worked as a customer service employee.

Under the United Arab Emirates cybercrime law, any form of misuse of a computer, smart device or an electronic network could fetch the violator, if found guilty, a stern punishment that could go up to a life sentence and/or a fine varying between Dh50,000 and Dh3 million. The man's visa was cancelled on Tuesday.

Ayyub told Gulf News that she will be filing a police case against the accused in New Delhi.