Religious officials in Saudi Arabia recently detained an Indian national after he posted a picture on his Facebook page depicting the Grand Mosque in Mecca, considered to be one of the holiest shrines by Muslims, as a Hindu temple. Specifically, the picture had the Kaaba in the center of Al Masjid Al Haram replaced by a cube with Hindu symbols on it. Muslims across the world face Mecca while praying precisely because it houses the holy Kaaba.

Shocked by the offensive picture, a Saudi national informed the country’s religious police, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and an investigation was launched immediately. While the suspect admitted that the social networking page was indeed his, he denied posting the picture. When he was arrested at the airport, he said he had seen a link to the picture on another person’s Facebook page and when he clicked on it, the offensive content was automatically published on his profile, thereby allowing his followers to see it.

Yet, the investigators concluded that the suspect was guilty of having broken Saudi Arabia’s anti-cyber crime law by sharing an offensive picture on his page. Under this law, any person who prepares, produces, transmits or stores material impinging on public order, public morals, religious values and privacy through computers or other information networks, can be jailed for as long as five years and fined as much as three million riyals. Additionally, the law prohibits the launching or publicizing of websites that promote or facilitate the preparation, promotion and publication of material for human trafficking, pornography or gambling, as each of these is believed to violate public morals.

Photo Credits: India TV News