Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced a Gulf citizen to one year in jail and ordered his mobile phone to be confiscated on charges of setting fire to an apartment in a famous hotel in Dubai and assaulting eight people including his family members during live broadcast on his social media page.

The court also ruled that two lawsuits be referred to the competent civil court.

The incident began with a live broadcast notification on Instagram to a number of people including the defendant’s family members and friends.

As a number of them logged into the app to watch the suspect’s transmission, they were surprised by the defendant telling them that those inside the hotel apartment were charlatans.

Immediately, one of the defendant’s friends and relatives went to the place where they found the defendant insulting a number of people and trying to assault them while accusing Arab man and woman of being sorcerers and doing acts that would harm him.

According to the official documents, the defendant tried to throw himself from the balcony of the hotel room but his sister prevented him so he assaulted her and then went to the bathroom where he lit a towel and threw it inside the bathtub.

Consequently, the hotel’s fire alarm was activated and the hotel security tried to enter the apartment but the defendant prevented them by placing the billiards table behind the door of the apartment.

According to the victims’ testimony, the fire alarms and water were activated as soon as the smoke reached them, causing the fire to be extinguished before the civil defense and police arrived and managed to open the apartment door and arrest the defendant.

The defendant was referred to the criminal lab, which indicated that he did not abuse any narcotic substances but deliberately inhaled a gas that caused anesthesia and central nervous system depression.