Egyptian Singer Shyma Jailed For 'Sexually' Eating Banana In Music Video

Sexually suggestive media is the norm in the United States, but not so much in other parts of the world. Egypt, for example, has laws against “debauchery” that can be applied against a variety of behaviors that the government sees as objectionable. The latest victim of this law is singer Shaimaa Ahmed.

Ahmed, 25, is professionally known as Shyma. Reported by the BBC, Shyma received heavy backlash for a music video which features the scantily-clad singer suggestively eating fruit, namely a banana, in front of a classroom full of young men. Both Shyma and the music video’s director have been sentenced to two years in prison, while Shyma has reportedly also been ordered to pay a fine equivalent to $560 USD.

The video, which was apparently called an “indecent film” by local media, can be seen below.

A court in Egypt has reportedly jailed for two years a singer who appeared in a music video in her underwear while suggestively eating a banana.
https://t.co/o8Nm7qCS6a pic.twitter.com/G0mqMCpgoT

— ASJ Baloch (@ASJBaloch) December 12, 2017

The singer apologized prior to her arrest, but it seems like it did not help her case. Per BBC, she wrote "I didn't imagine all this would happen and that I would be subjected to such a strong attack from everyone” on her since-deleted Facebook page.

As BBC points out, Egypt skews conservative in matters like this. Debauchery laws have been said to be applied particularly heavily against LGBT groups. Back in September, Independent reported that a group of men waving rainbow flags at a concert had been charged with debauchery and “promoting sexual deviancy.” This was apparently part of widespread government action against homosexuality, “supported by the country’s religious and media establishment.”

According to the BBC, three female dancers also got six month prison sentences for “inciting debauchery” in music videos last year. Along similar lines is the case of Sherine Abdel Wahab, a singer who has come under fire for her comments about the Nile river. While performing in the United Arab Emirates, she jokingly told a fan not to drink from the Nile because they would get Schistosomiasis, a disease commonly found in freshwater snails in the region.

Wahab is facing a trial for her comments and has been banned by the Egyptian Musicians Syndicate for performing in Egypt for two months.