Fake love: Man lands in jail for misinformation on social media

• Man posts a friend's picture with random image of foreigner on Facebook.
• Police arrive in area to provide security to foreigner.
• They arrest Gulab to find out that there was no British woman arrived.

KHAR, BAJAUR: A fake news landed a man from Tali in jail after he mischievously posted about a British woman travelling to Salarzai Tehsil in the Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to meet her Pakistani friend, The News reported.

"For the love of Mohammad Ishaq from Salarzai, Bajaur, a British woman named Ella reached Salarzai," Mohammad Gulab had written on his Facebook account.

He had also attached a picture of a man, seemingly Mohammad Ishaq, who is his friend, and a random image of a female foreigner, in the post.

Upon learning about the post, the police arrived in the area to provide security to the foreigner, only to find out that there was no British woman and it was fake news.

This prompted the police to arrest Gulab.

A statement issued by KP police said that the Bajaur district police officer had taken strict action on the matter and arrested the social media user behind the fake post. It stated that a case under the relevant laws of cybercrime has also been registered against Gulab.

The police said that spreading fake and false news on social media is a punishable offence under the laws of Pakistan.

It may be noted that three similar cases of foreigners arriving to meet and end up with their Pakistani friends have surfaced since the case of Indian woman Anju, now Fatima, who travelled to Pakistan and wedded her Facebook friend in Upper Dir.

The widespread impact of social media became all the more apparent as four foreign women arrived in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in a single month to be united with the men they had met online via social media applications, in an interesting turn of events.

A senior police official told Geo News that 49-year-old Rosa from Mexico arrived in Pakistan on June 17 with complete documentation to marry 18-year-old Izaz Ali — a resident of Buner, KP.

Furthermore, 36-year-old Nicola from Chile married 27-year-old Ikramulah of Charsadda in KP.

The fourth woman to travel to Pakistan seeking love is a Chinese woman who reached Lower Dir this week after falling in love with a Pakistani resident via social media.