Mannequin carried on bike: Image from Cairo viral with communal spin in India – Alt News

An image of a man on a motorcycle seemingly carrying a corpse in the rear seat is viral. The apparent corpse is seen covered with a limb sticking out. Verified user @arpispeaks shared the image and wrote ‘उसका अब्दुल सब से अलग था’. The ‘Abdul’ rhetoric is often used by Right Wing social media users in an attempt to demonize the Muslim community by implying that all Muslim men would kill their Hindu spouses. In this case, too, the user implied that the motorcyclist, a Muslim, had killed his spouse, whose corpse he was now carrying. (Archive)

उसका अब्दुल सब से अलग था ???? pic.twitter.com/6C5UiNpSQZ

— Arpita Shaivya (@arpispeaks) June 1, 2023

Several other Twitter users tweeted the image with the same caption. (Archives- 1, 2, 3)

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The image is viral on Facebook too.

Fact Check

A reverse image search of the image led us to several news reports which stated that the image was from Cairo. A Cairo24 report quoted a source linking the image to a ready-made garment merchant and saying that the motorcyclist was actually carrying a mannequin to display ready-made clothes. The limb that can be seen sticking out of the motorcycle belongs to the mannequin.

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In a follow-up report by Cairo24 it was further revealed that the owner of a ready-made clothing store requested a transport company to deliver the statue from one branch to another in the Mokattam area in Cairo. As a result, the motorcyclist seen in the picture went to the aforementioned shop, received the mannequin and dismantled it so that he could transport it on the motorcycle. The limb was sticking out while it was being transported.

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Alt News found the Facebook page of the shop that was transporting the mannequin. The shop, BG Collection, shared an update wherein they clarified that they were transporting mannequins from their Gamal Abdel Nasser branch to Al-Mukattam branch.

The page posted another update where they jokingly ‘thanked’ their staff for working hard in spite of the difficulties they face.

The shop also shared a graphic with the viral image juxtaposed with the mannequin after it was reassembled.

Hence, an image of a bike-borne man transporting a mannequin in Egypt is viral with a communal spin. Social media users described the mannequin as a corpse and used the ‘Abdul’ narrative to claim that the motorcyclist was a Muslim who had killed his spouse.

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