Housemate on Brazilian Big Brother 'raped on live TV'

London, Jan 18 (ANI): In a shocking incident, a housemate on Brazil's version of Big Brother has allegedly been raped live on TV.

Police on Tuesday, confirmed that they had begun an investigation and carried out a search of the studios in Rio de Janeiro, where the popular reality show is being filmed.

Viewers were shocked in the early hours of Sunday to watch contestant Daniel Echaniz 31, apparently force himself on 23-year-old student Monique Amin, who had passed out drunk after a boozy party.

Night cameras fimed Echaniz, a male model, get into the bed where Amin was sleeping before appearing to have sex with her under the covers.

Throughout the incident Amin appeared unconscious.

The next morning when Amin was asked about the incident in the diary room, she appeared to know little of what had happened.

As the scandal began to engulf the show, one of Brazil's most watched TV programmes, police officers arrived at the house and interviewed Amin for three hours, before taking her away for a rape examination, according to sources.

Police are believed to have then told TV channel Globo to either stop broadcasting the show, which is produced by Endemol and only began last Tuesday, or eliminate Echaniz.

The decision to remove the contestant, who if found guilty of rape faces between six and ten years' jail, was explained in a statement read out by the show's presenter Pedro Bial.

"Since Sunday morning, the board had been evaluating the behaviour of Daniel, who is suspected of having infringed the rules of the programme," the Daily Mail quoted Bial as saying.

"Big Brother examined his behaviour without jumping to conclusions and with the utmost care. The images showed a breach of the rules of the programme.

"After careful evaluation, the direction of the programme found that the behavior of the contestant on the night of the party was seriously inadequate," he added. (ANI)

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