Abidjan – Outrage erupted in Ivory Coast on Friday after celebrity actor Jimmy Danger laughingly told a television programme he had raped his cousin when they were young.
The incident comes less than a year after a laughing TV host encouraged a convicted rapist to demonstrate on a dummy how he abused his victims.
The TV presenter received a suspended sentence and a fine. The guest was jailed.
“When we were young, we had a cousin who slept in the living room with us. I did a “little black cat”. Everyone did that!” Danger says in a trailer of the programme, which was scheduled to air on Saturday.
“Black cat” is Ivorian slang for rape.
Danger said his cousin had “cried out to raise the alarm” and he had then hit her.
ALSO READ | Outcry in Ivory Coast over televised ‘rape demonstration’
Social media was soon awash with outrage.
“These comments are unacceptable and criminal,” said Benedicte Joan, head of the rape victim support charity “Stop Black Cat”.
“And the worst thing is that they were chosen to promote the programme before it is broadcast.”
A collective of around 40 associations working to combat violence against women asked the broadcast watchdog to block the programme, due to be shown on Ivoire TV on Saturday lunchtime.
In late August 2021, a similar incident caused a massive uproar in the West African country.
TV presenter Yves de M’Bella was given a 12-month suspended jail term for “condoning rape” after asking a guest on his show – a convicted rapist – to act out sexual assaults using a dummy.
De M’Bella was also ordered to pay a fine of two million CFA francs ($3,600).
His guest was jailed for two years.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Unsplash
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