The coronavirus pandemic has brought life to a standstill. Busy streets and markets that were once bustling now wear a deserted look as millions of people are stuck inside their homes due to quarantine and lockdowns.
Quarantine situations can be quite boring and exhausting. Those who have the work-from-home option are keeping busy with work, and those who don't, are using the time and leisure to spend quality time with their families and making up for the moments they might have lost when life was busier.
Saudi social media celebrity's prank on wife
But there are some who are doing bizarre things to kill the quarantine boredom. Like this Saudi social media star who played a rather silly prank on his wife – a prank that landed him in jail.
According to Saudi media, police in the holy city of Mecca arrested a man who is quite popular on Saudi social media after he used "toilet water" to make tea for his unsuspecting wife. The police wouldn't have known of his deed until he uploaded a video documenting the act.
Prank video deleted on wife's advice
The unidentified social media celeb has reportedly admitted to his act, saying that he did it as a "prank" on his wife, the kingdom's online newspaper Ajel reported.
The man is said to have removed the footage documenting his act after his angry wife learnt about the prank. She advised him to take the video off his social media channels as it would encourage children and teenagers among his followers to imitate the act.
Punishment too severe
Although the name of the social media personality in question hasn't been officially disclosed by the police, some social media users suspect him to be Hani Halawani, a local Snapchat celebrity who is known for uploading controversial videos online.
If convicted, the social media star could face charges of abusing social media, putting others' safety at risk, or jeopardizing others' safety, and harming public order.
According to Saudi cybercrime law, offences of this nature can attract up to five years' imprisonment and a fine of up to three million riyals.
Saudi Arabia's strict cyber laws
Saudi Arabia has some of the toughest laws in the world and they also apply to how you behave on social media. The Islamic kingdom does not tolerate posting of any obscene acts, nudity, or even pranks or videos that involve men and women who are not related to each other.
A popular example of Saudi Arabia's strict online laws is the case of a Saudi teenager named Abu Sin who was arrested for "unethical behaviour" after his funny video chats with an American video blogger called Christina Crockett became viral online. The chats between the Arab teen and the American blogger became popular mainly because of Abu Sin's funny English.
