A court in Elgeyo-Marakwet has ordered a German national to leave the country within 72 hours for harassing a Kenyan athlete based in Iten.
Court documents revealed that the German sent offensive text messages to the Kenyan athlete whom he was pursuing a relationship.
The athlete, however, declined his advances. Irked by the developments, the German national started sending threatening messages to the Kenyan.
Appearing before Iten Senior Resident Magistrate Caroline Ateya, the 25-year-old German was charged with four counts of sending disturbing messages to the athlete.
He pleaded guilty and was slapped with a Ksh70,000 fine. Further, the judge ordered the 25-year-old to leave the country within three days after paying the fine or spend six months in jail and still be deported.
The case brings to the fore the rise of cyberbullying in society, which is defined as a negative, harmful or false message that is sent either through SMS, apps, or online on social media, or forums.
The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018 characterizes cyberbullying as malicious and aimed at affecting the targetted person.
"A person who, individually or with other persons, willfully communicates, either directly or indirectly, with another person or anyone known to that person, commits an offense, if they know or ought to know that their conduct is likely to cause those persons apprehension or fear of violence to them, detrimentally affects that person or is in whole or part, of an indecent or grossly offensive nature and affects the person," reads Section 27 sub-article (1) of the act.
Section 238 of the penal code advocates for the victims of cyberbullying to pursue criminal charges on the perpetrators.
"Any person who intimidates any other person is guilty of an offense and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years."
