ABIDJAN, Aug 31 (Reuters) – A TV presenter in Côte d’Ivoire was suspended on Tuesday for 30 days after inviting a convicted rapist to its program in the early hours and asking him to simulate a rape with a mannequin.
Côte d’Ivoire’s independent communications council announced the suspension of popular presenter Yves de Mbella, saying in a statement that the segment used obscene language, tolerated rape and attacked the dignity of women.
The private television channel Nouvelle Chaine Ivoirienne apologized for broadcasting it and canceled the final episode of that particular show that had been scheduled for Friday.
“I sincerely feel like I impacted everyone as I tried to raise awareness,” de Mbella wrote on Facebook. “I made a mistake.”
“I’m also sorry for everything that was said or done yesterday during that sequence of the program that hurt,” he wrote. “I apologize to all the victims of the rape.”
In the segment, aired Monday, de Mbella asked her guest to demonstrate how she raped women with a female mannequin.
At one point, de Mbella helped the guest adjust the mannequin and asked him how he chose his victims, whether he preferred them “thin or fat” and whether the victims “enjoyed.”
The segment was quickly doomed to social media platforms in Côte d’Ivoire and Central and West Africa.
Telecommunications operator MTN (MTNJ.J), sponsor of the Miss Côte d’Ivoire pageant which is scheduled to host Mbella on September 4, said in a statement that it would take firm action in response to the segment, but did not say if de Mbella would still lodge.
Written by Bate Felix; Edited by Howard Goller
Our standards: the principles of trust of Thomson Reuters.