Fact Check: Image of Algerian statue vandalism shared as French incident
A photo has gone viral showing a man disfiguring a stone statue.
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 22 July 2024 10:23 AM GMT
Claim: The image of a man vandalising a female statue at a fountain is from France.
Fact: The claim is misleading. The photo is from a 2017 incident in Algeria, not France.
Hyderabad: Amid the ongoing negotiations between the French presidentās party and the centre-right, a photo has gone viral showing a man disfiguring a stone statue in France.
An X user has shared the photo with the caption: āFRANCE, A man destroys the breasts and face of a female statue of a fountain, considering nudity as āsinā (haram). (sic)ā
Similar posts can be seen here and here.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading.
A reverse image search revealed an X post from December 18, 2017, with the caption āI hope this thing will be identified and severely punished by the authorities.ā
The post contained the same photo of the man vandalising the statue, indicating that the incident did not happen recently.
Further, a keyword search led us to a report by DZ Breaking titled āThe statue of Ain Fouara in Setif vandalized-(Photos+video).ā
The report identified the statue as the emblematic monument of the city of Setif, Algeria ā the fountain of Ain El Fouara, which was damaged at the face and chest.
Additionally, we found a report by Morocco World News titled āAlgerian āPerturbedā Salafist Vandalizes Historical Statue of Naked Womanā that confirmed the same incident, dating back to December 19, 2017.
According to the report, local police stated that the perpetrator was a 34-year-old man from Beni Hocine commune who has a mental disorder.
We also found a 1:15-minute-long YouTube video of the same incident published on December 18, 2017.
A report by Observers France 24 stated that the statue Ain el-Fouara, created by French sculptor Francis de Saint-Vidal and inaugurated in 1898, has been vandalised multiple times. It was damaged by a homemade bomb on April 22, 1997, and attacked with a hammer on February 28, 2006. Each time, the statue was repaired.
We also verified the statueās location in Algeria using Google Maps photos.
Hence, the claim that a man in France destroyed a statueās breasts and face considering nudity as āsinā is misleading. The photo and incident are from 2017 in Setif, Algeria.
