Morocco: Congolese Student Given a Fine for Holding Girlfriend's Hand

6/25/2016 10:24:55 AM

(MENAFN- Morocco World News) A Congolese student was reprimanded and given a fine in aRabat tramway as he was taking a ride while holding his girlfriend''s hand.

On Wednesday June 22nd, Sumaili Ndeba Bienvenu, a 23-year-old Congolese student living in Rabat, was holding his hands with his Moroccan girlfriend on a tramway.

A tramway controller sawthe couple holding hands and issued them a fine for “lacking public decency.”

''I was with my girlfriend on the tramway. She was stressed about her final exams so I held her hand to make her feel better. There was a tramway attendant at the other end of the train that approached us. He asked if my girlfriend was Moroccan, to which she answered yes. That''s when he started lecturing her and telling her that what she was doing was shameful,'' Sumaili Ndeba Bienvenu told Huffpost Maroc.

The tramway attendant spoke to Ndeba Bienvenu''s girlfriend in Arabic, which he did not understand. ''I felt excluded from the conversation. I asked him to explain what the problem was. He responded that if wewanted to pursue acts of affection, we should find somewhere else to do so, all while threatening to call the police,'' said Ndeba Bienvenu. ''I don''t understand if it''s religious intolerance or a racist act,'' he added.

Less than 24 hours after the fact, the tramway''s official Facebook page issued a public apology, saying the report issued by the tramway attendant was an unjustifiable isolated incident, and was thusannulled.

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