US court allows serving of divorce papers via Facebook

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A United States court has permitted a nurse to serve divorce papers to her elusive husband through a Facebook message.

In a report by New York Daily News on Monday, Manhattan Supreme Justice Matthew Cooper said that he is allowing nurse Ellanora Baidoo to send divorce summons to her husband, Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku through her Facebook account.

Cooper directed Baidoo and her lawyer to send her husband the divorce papers through Facebook once a week for three weeks.

“This transmittal shall be repeated by plaintiff’s attorney to defendant once a week for three consecutive weeks or until acknowledged,” Cooper said.

According to the report, Baidoo and Blood-Dzraku were married in a civil ceremony in 2009. However, their relationship became rocky after the husband failed to fulfill his promise of a Ghanaian wedding.

The couple never lived together and Blood-Dzraku only maintained contact with Baidoo through phone and Facebook, Cooper said.

Blood-Dzraku has no permanent address and no place of employment. The defendant’s camp tried to track down the elusive husband by hiring a private detective but failed.

Baidoo’s counsel, Andrew Spinnell hailed the landmark decision of the court. He said that the first Facebook message had been sent to Blood-Dzraku but they were yet to receive a reply. AJH/RC