The Gambian community in Austria is insisting that Tijan Bojang is not a bigamist, saying he is not the type of person that would want to exploit women.

The 24-year-old immigrant is still in custody in Vienna as police continue to investigate claims that he extorted more than D2m from the women he dated. According to media reports, he was having 16 lovers.

But a member of the Gambian-Austrian community, who prefers his identity hidden, believed that he was set up, and said Tijan is a hardworking young man who is widely respected.

“What they wrote in the newspaper here, is a big lie. It is just a fabrication! His ex-girlfriend is behind it. She promised to spoil Tijan’s image,” he said.

The Gambian-Austrian community member disclosed they are all standing behind him despite the accusations.

He said: “How can he marry two or three wives in the same country at the same time? How possible is that? He was married before and divorced. He got married again just three years ago. His last wife is not even Austrian; she is just here for schooling.”

According to him, the Austrian authourities are trying to spoil the image of black people in Vienna.

“None of the 16 women identified can produce a paper that indicates they gave him 38,000 euro as reported by the press. I swear it is all lies to tarnish the brother’s image. Even some Austrians are not convinced with the story. Vienna is too small for someone to have multiple girlfriends at the same time.”

According to unconfirmed reports, Tijan is likely to be dragged to court.