Is it really possible for you to be killed online? And if so, is it a crime?

Authorities are exploring that possibility in Japan, where a 43-year-old woman was jailed after hacking into the massively multi-player online role-playing game “MapleStory” and eliminating the avatar — or online personality — of a man who was playing her husband in the game.

The woman said she was reacting to the man’s sudden and unannounced “divorce” from her avatar, said the Associated Press, which did not release the identities of the people involved. So, as a form of revenge, she obtained the 33-year-old man’s user identification and password and “killed” his online digital personna in the game.

When the man discovered what had happened, he called police. The woman, who was not yet formally charged as of late Thursday, could be convicted of illegal hacking and face up to five years in prison. She had been apprehended Wednesday and taken more than 600 miles to be detained in the town where the man lives.

“MapleStory” is a two-dimensional, side-scrolling social environment where people meet through their avatars, pursue alternative lives, play mini-games, fight dragons and overcome assorted obstacles. It’s more popular in Asia but claims to have more than 50 million members worldwide.