Nigerian
Housemate Ofuneka Was Raped By Richard In Big Brother Africa
2(OfunekaFingergate)
The Nigerian
Housemate Ofuneka in Big Brother Africa 2 was sexually assaulted
by the notorious male Housemate Richard and there is now a
Big Brother Cover Up to sweep the sex-attack under the soiled
red carpet of Big Brother Africa when the family of the victim
should have sued the organisers and sponsors of Big Brother
Africa.
WHAT started as a lazy, hazy Saturday afternoon in the Big
Brother house ended on a sordid and scandalous note.The scene
was a mix of crazy, drunken antics, which culminated in a
display of what can only be described as sexual abuse.It also
showed how destructive alcohol can be when it is abused.On
a continent where alcoholism is rampant, abuse of women and
children is pervasive and HIV-AIDS cases have reached alarming
rates, what happened in the house can only be described as
sad.
None
of us really had the stomach to write about what some viewers
are describing as "the most scandalous day" in Big
Brother history, but because the incidents have sparked such
debate and outrage, we are left with no option.Such has been
the outrage that some BBA pundits are wondering if there will
be a BBA3.We enjoy writing tongue-in-the cheek takes on the
housemates and house happenings, or doing breakdowns of events;
writing about Saturday's events offers no pleasure.No matter
how much we love BBA, the question has to be asked: did what
went down cross a line? Of course, there were those gung-ho
sexual cowboys on the SMS strip wanting more, urging Rich
on.
Sure,
BBA is a reality show, but surely even in reality shows there
are bottom lines? If the housemates had all been sober, it
could have been seen differently: at least the dynamics of
consent would have come into play.FISHING TASK It all started
with a fishing task, which ended with Rich fishing - uninvited
- in forbidden waters.The task saw the housemates degenerating
into drunken zombies - there was the large-scale vomiting,
and what is being seen as the sexual abuse of especially a
blind-drunk Ofunneka.Tati was also on the receiving end.Matters
got so bad that the paramedics had to be called in! And, eventually,
Richard was locked in the diary room.Big Brother himself chose
to censor viewing at one point by switching to an empty garden
for a good 30 minutes or so.
In terms
of a reality show, this was also not on, one "horrified"
viewer who telephoned The Namibian said.OK, so still hung
over from the previous night, the housemates were supposed
to fish with magnetic fishing rods - they had to catch an
array of magnetised fish.On the reverse side of each fish
was a written question or task and the housemates, in typical
Simon Says fashion, had to follow the instructions.As is usual
on a Saturday, Biggie provided housemates with an abundance
of alcohol.The booze combined with an across-the-board hangover
and the fact that the housemates had seemingly had very little
to eat led to some of the most offensive scenes of the show.
So offensive
that Biggie has remained suspiciously mum on the whole issue,
allegedly censoring snippets of the sordid ordeal and allegedly
even removing certain threads on the official BBA website
forum.BBA viewers are also shouting the odds that their SMS
messages on the incident are not being shown, that only a
limited, selective few are being screened on the SMS strip.None
of the housemates emerged with any credit - though, if anyone
showed even a modicum of sense under the circumstances, it
was Maureen, who was tipsy but not as out of it as the others.HOW
IT WENT DOWN After only 30 minutes, the housemates were so
drunk that they could barely complete the fishing task.As
a post on the BBA Ultimate Fan Web blog said, it was like
the blind leading the blind, the blind drunk.
The housemates
were falling all over the place, stumbling into each other,
holding each other, kissing ,After a few more shots of booze
all round, the day went from bad to worse as the crazy behaviour
continued.After a while the 'Big 5's' bodies just couldn't
handle it any more and one after the other they started puking
their guts out.Ofu and Tati were undoubtedly the two most
out of it.Don't know what was going through Richard's mind
at the time but he seemed to think that two all-but passed-out
women was a sexual invitation! WTF??!!! Lying between the
two women in the bedroom, Richard began to kiss and fondle
and fiddle with Ofu, and this while his lover - Tati - was
lying right next to him.
On the
same bed! You could have been forgiven for thinking you had
stumbled across a new porn channel, as one viewer who called
in said - but no, it was Big Brother Africa.This is reality
television, people - showcasing not only the highs and lows
of human behaviour but the ugliest side of people too.As Richard
groped and abused Ofu, a dazed and confused Maureen walked
in and out of the room - babbling, seemingly at a loss over
what to do.She had tried to lead Richard out of the room,
but he was running on rampant and eager to get back to the
two women.At one point she got him to sit on the couch, at
which stage he seemed to revel in sniffing his fingers.
As Maureen
struggled with the situation, the paramedics were sent in
and Richard was eventually locked in the diary room.This is
also when Biggie decided to switch to the garden camera.OUTRAGE
What Richard did to Ofunneka can only be described as morally
reprehensible.There are even those on BBA forums and other
BBA threads charging that it is tantamount to sex-attack,
with many calling for the Tanzanian to be removed from the
Big Brother house for what he did to his Nigerian housemate.Abuse
should not be tolerated in any way, shape or form, whether
it is in the form of physical or emotional violence or a sexual
affront.Diehard Richard fans are trying to play down the incident,
shifting the blame on to Ofunneka, claiming that that she
"wanted it".
Hello
people? That is like saying that women ask to be attacked?!
As one message on the SMS strip said, "When is someone
going to teach Rich what NO and STOP IT mean?" But don't
be surprised if Richard fans try to paint him as a saint of
sexual favours.Any decent man would never take advantage of
a woman in that situation.Ofunneka was unaware of what was
going on around her, unaware of what Richard was doing to
her yet he continued to abuse her in the most vile manner.
Others
are trying to blame Maureen.They say she should have hit Richard
over the head with something.Well, imagine if she hadn't knocked
him out, and he had turned on her?!! When will this man be
stopped? Viewers across Africa have already given his adulterous
relationship with Tatiana the stamp of approval by not voting
him out on numerous occasions.And doubtless there will be
those who will continue to vote for their "Richie".
Do they
really approve of his abusive and chauvinistic behaviour?
What message does this send out to men and women across Africa?
That it's okay to cheat on your wife, to sexually cheat on
live television, to intimately grope a passed-out woman? AFTERMATH
After the paramedics left, the housemates slept for a very
long period.And when they finally surfaced, they tried to
piece together the events of the afternoon.Tatiana and Ofunekka
said they could not remember how they even got to the bedroom.
Although
Richard seemed to remember bits and pieces, he certainly did
not divulge the details.But the man sure strutted around the
house as though he owned all the women.He was obviously cock-a-hoop,
pronouncing loudly "I have seen the rivers and mountains
of Big Brother", and then guffawing in a very self-satisfied
way.
Not only
did he seem very, very pleased with himself, but he boldly
pronounced, almost shouted, that he had "changed strategy"
and "I'm going to bump all the women in the BBA house"
- not once, not twice, but a number of times.He even shouted
out a demand to Tati, in full hearing of Ofu and Maureen,
that he wanted a BJ.It seems that with each eviction that
he has survived, Rich has become increasingly convinced that
he is untouchable, and can do whatever he wants - without
fear of retribution, or accountability.
- Additional
reporting by JEAN SUTHERLAND.
News
culled from :
http://www.namibian.com.na/2007/October/africa/07C5AB5300.html
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