Here in Her.ie headquarters we’re all for the occasional practical joke, but we’ll admit that we were absolutely horrified when we came across the following story. In terms of practical jokes, let’s just say that this one is fairly intense…
A well-known journalist in Kyrgzstan is bringing criminal charges against a bunch of newspaper reporters who abducted and threatened to kill her as a practical joke for their newspaper. Yes, seriously.
Nazira Aytbekova, who presents an entertainment programme on Kyrgyzstan state TV, spoke about her ordeal and told the BBC that the reporters kidnapped her at gunpoint and brought her to some wasteland where they made her beg for her life.
The presenter says she is still “shaken and humiliated” by the accident. Well, we can’t blame her!
Ms Aytbekova said that the reporters blindfolded her and forced her to strip to her kickers while they held a gun to her head. Some practical joke, eh?
Nazira Aytbekova said she is still “shaken and humiliated” by what happened to her
“They took off the sack from my head and said ‘sing!’ I refused. They told me to dance and somebody was standing behind me and constantly poked the gun at my head,” said Ms Aytbekova.
“They said to me: ‘OK, say your last words. And then we’ll shoot you,’” she added.
The journalists recorded Ms Aytbekova’s ordeal on a mobile phone and threatened her life numerous times before they finally revealed themselves to her as being reporters for a popular newspaper that runs a practical jokes column.
“Our editorial team would never condone such outrageous stunts, threatening and endangering someone’s life,” said Aisulu Alimbekova, the Vice President of the paper in question.
The journalists responsible for the joke and the paper itself have apologised for the stunt, however Ms Aytebekova’s family have said that they can’t forgive them for the ordeal and will press criminal charges.
Yeah, we’re pretty sure that if anyone did this to us we’d be seeing them in court…
