Durban - A Facebook post purportedly by a Gauteng real estate agent, in which he imagines raping Indian women, has sparked widespread anger after it was circulated on social media.
Those who have seen the post are livid and are demanding that Darryn Wilken, of Just Property in Midrand, be charged criminally or hauled to both the Equality Court and the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
Just Property Midrand general manager Brian van Wijk told POST on Monday that Wilkin had been suspended and they would hold a disciplinary hearing.
“We find the comment reprehensible and unacceptable and will not tolerate such behaviour. We have a code of ethics and an anti-discrimination policy.”
Wilkin’s Facebook account is now inactive and his cell number, which Van Wijk said belonged to the company, went answered.
His work e-mail address returned with an “out of office” response stating he was “currently unavailable” and that queries would be dealt with by the office. However, he was earlier quoted in a report apologising to everyone he had hurt.
At a time when the government and various organisations are working to combat violence against women and children, activists told POST they could not understand how someone, seemingly attempting to be humorous on social media, could fathom thinking and writing such smut.
A POST reader who declined to be named claimed he was being harassed after he shared the post, which had appeared on the closed Facebook group, Dark Humour Memes.
He was mortified when he read it.
“A friend, who was a member of the group, shared a screen grab of the post and I subsequently did the same. In it, a question was posed: If crime was legal for 12 hours, what would you do?
“To this, Wilken wrote, I will go rape every Indian women I see. Then after the 12 hours I’ll hit them up with a message like, last night was fun, we should do it again some time.”
The Durban resident said members from the group then started posting pictures of his girlfriend and family on the page, which he was previously a member of, and contacted his former employer via social media trying to tarnish his image.
Yusuf Abramjee, global communications director of Crime Stoppers International, saw the post, which went viral, and commented that Wilken should be charged criminally.
Speaking to POST this week, Abramjee, said: “This is shocking. Rape is no joke and a criminal charge must be opened against him or complaints lodged with the Equality Court and the SAHRC. He may have said he was sorry, but that’s not good enough. There need to be further repercussions.”
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He said he had contacted Wilken’s employer and was told the company condemned the comments. “They said he did it in his private capacity. This is also shocking. Stern action must be taken against him. The least they should do is fire him.”
The spokesman for the Department of Justice and Correctional Services, advocate Mthunzi Mhaga, said: “He seems to think women are sex objects due to their gender and sees them as unequal and should be victimised. He made an irresponsible statement. It flies against the efforts of those who are fighting every day to protect women and for men to respect them.”
SAHRC spokesman Isaac Mangena said: “This is wrong in a country like ours where racial intolerance is a problem. We can also look at it in terms of elements of hate crimes or even racism.”
Trish Bechanan, project manager of the Jes Foord Foundation formed by rape survivor Jes Foord, said the comment was inexcusable. “Even if it is a secret group, he placed his comments on a public domain. What happens when a young boy reads this, how will it influence him?”
Community activist Satish Dhupelia, a great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, wrote on Facebook: “It is shocking that this kind of sick comment and thinking exists in today’s world. It is racist and sexist and disgusting.”
Speaking to the Midrand Reporter newspaper, Wilken had explained that in the group Dark Humour Memes people posted sometimes socially unacceptable pictures, knowing that others in the group were like-minded and would not be offended.
“I posted the comment four months ago and shortly after deleted it because of how inappropriate it was.”
He reportedly said the comment was leaked from the group by an ex-girlfriend, who was upset that the relationship had ended.
“Anyone that knows me knows that the majority of my friends and girlfriends are Indian and I never intentionally do anything to offend them.”
Social media law specialist Emma Sadlier said the comments were arguably hate speech with incitement to cause violence.
Facebookers respond
On March 24 Just Property Midrand posted the following on its Facebook page, to which users added comments.
“We would like to let our clients, staff, friends and the public know that we find the comments and views of Darryn Wilken reprehensible and unacceptable. We apologise to everyone.”
Khatija Suleman: “This kind of hate fuels more hate and for your office to be apologising on behalf of a sick-minded, pathetic individual does not make his comment disappear.
“The fact that he is in your employ negatively impacts your company. It raises questions about the calibre of people you employ so I suggest if you want to keep your client base, you've got to take responsibility from an employer’s point of view and apply whatever actions necessary to ensure this incident is not repeated, not just within your company but around SA.
“This man needs to be dismissed. If this incident is not resolved I will personally start a #boycott campaign.”
Divashnee Rugnat: “It was absolutely disgusting and inexcusable! As an Indian woman, or just a woman, I am highly offended ... and this is a clear reflection of your (company’s) values and beliefs... I would like to know, as a company, what action you have taken against his pathetic behaviour?”
TriXsta Veez: “Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and giving this guy grief. The members of the company should know him on a personal level and know that he is not what is being portrayed here. If every half-hearted joke mentioned here was publicly displayed, would you be safe from social media?”
POST