By: Toibah
June 6 2023
Viral image of man carrying mannequin in Egypt falsely shared with a communal spin
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
The employers of the man riding the motorcycle confirmed to Logically Facts that the mannequin was being transported from a store.
Claim ID b400224b
Context
A photo of a man riding a bike with a sack tied to the back seat and what appears to be a human leg sticking out was widely shared on social media. The image is being shared with a communal twist that it shows a Muslim man carrying the body of a Hindu girl, with the claim that she was a victim of 'love jihad.'
‘Love jihad’ is a conspiracy theory alleging that Muslim men entrap Hindu women into relationships and/or marriage for religious conversion.
In fact
After conducting a Google reverse image search, we traced the viral image to a news report by Cairo 24, published on May 30. The report confirmed that the image originated in Cairo, Egypt, and caused a significant reaction among social media users. Many individuals mistakenly believed the man was transporting a real corpse on his motorcycle when it was a mannequin.
According to the report, the image captured a garment merchant carrying a mannequin for displaying clothes in shops.
The store where the man worked also shared the picture on Facebook on June 1 clarifying that it was a mannequin, not a real body. BG Store confirmed to Logically Facts via its Facebook page that the mannequin was being transported from a store.
Verdict
A viral image from Egypt of a mannequin being transported by a garment merchant has been shared with a false communal spin. Therefore, we rate this claim as false.