An image showing man attacking a naked female statue with a hammer has gone viral on social media platforms. Many social media users, influencers including propagandists have shared the image with the claim that a Muslim individual destroyed the breasts and face of a female statue of a fountain in France, considering nudity as a ‘sin’ (haram). However, D-Intent Data has found that the viral image is not from France but an old incident from Algeria.
The old image of a man attacking a naked female statue shared as France
Several social media users, influencers and propagandists have shared the image showing an individual attacking a female statue and claiming to be from France.
Sharing the image an account @lady_habsburg on X (Formerly Twitter) wrote. FRANCE, A man destroys the breasts and face of a female statue in a fountain, considering nudity as ‘sin’ (haram). What do you think of the type of people we are importing into Europe, massively? As of now, the post has received 338k views, 9.8k likes and significant numbers of engagements.
Fake news peddler propagandist account @AzatAlsalim also shared the image and said, France, A man destroys the breasts and face of a female statue of a fountain, considering nudity as ‘sin’ (haram).
Several other users and influencers have also disseminated the image and made similar claims. Their posts can be seen here @angryopinionatd, @bakalaofresco
Truth about the viral image of man attacking a naked female statue
As soon as the posts containing the image of an individual attacking a naked female statue came to our notice, we conducted research and found that this was an old image from Algeria and had nothing to do with France.
To verify the claims made by the users, we did a reverse image search on Google which led us to several media reports containing the same image or visuals.
During research, we found the same image on Morocco World News (MWN) published in December 2017. According to the report, 34 Year-old man from Beni Hocine commune, ransacked the statue of a naked woman. Made by French sculptor Francis de Saint-Vidal in the city of Setif, north of Algeria. As per the report, the accused was mentally challenged.
According to “The Observers France24” Armed with a hammer and chisel, a man attacked a naked female statue at Ain El Fouara fountain in the northern Algerian town of Sétif on 18th December 2017.
Moreover, we found the video of the incident on a YouTube channel uploaded on 19 December 2017 with the title. ‘The statue of Ain El Fouara vandalized by an Islamist’.
Hence, it is evident from D-Intent Data’s Fact Check that the image showing an individual attacking a naked female statue is not from France but an old incident from Setif, Algeria.
Intent
Social media users, influencers and propagandists are circulating years-old images from Algeria. And claiming to be from France to set their narrative over the recent unrest in the country.
Conclusion
Claim– A Muslim individual destroyed the breasts and face of a naked female statue in France.
Fact– This is an old image from Setif, Algeria where the incident occurred at Ain El Fouara fountain in December 2017.
Related Article: Fact Check: Years-old image of Palestinian teenage girl stab attacker shared with misleading claims – D-Intent Data (dintentdata.com)
