The video of a Muslim woman breaking the idols of Ganesha is not from India

A video is doing the rounds on social media in which a burqa-clad woman can be seen smashing Ganesha idols. This comes just ahead of the upcoming festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.  Indian social media users have shared this video claiming that this video is from India, where a Muslim woman can be seen breaking Ganesha idols that were being sold for the Ganpati Mahotsav celebrations.

Facebook Post  | Archive Link

Archive Link

According to the News, this woman in Bahrain is facing legal action after she broke many Ganesha idols at a supermarket. In the video, she can be heard screaming at a salesman. We started the investigation by watching this video closely, and noticed that the language being spoken does not sound familiar to any Indian language, which made us doubt that this video was actually from India. Further, we searched for this video through keywords on Google, as a result, found related news published by Times of India on 17^th August 2020, in which the viral video was circulated and it was mentioned that it is from Bahrain where the woman is facing legal action after she broke many Ganesha idols at a supermarket. She picked the idols one by one from the counter and dropped them on the ground, claiming that they should not be sold in an Islamic country. The Interior Ministry of Bahrain is investigating the matter after the incident took place at a supermarket in Juffair. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry has initiated legal action against the woman for ‘defaming a sect and its rituals’.

Archive Link

On August 16^th 2020, this video was shared, stating that the incident is from Bahrain and this woman has been arrested.

After this, we searched the Twitter account of the Interior Ministry of Bahrain, where we found the clarification issued by them in this context, in a tweet dated 16^th August2020:

Commenting on a broadcasted video clip, “Capital Police” mentioned: A 54-year-old woman was summoned after she deliberately destroyed some of the contents of a commercial store and smashed objects belonging to one of the religions.

In this tweet, they have also included the news published by the Bahrain Police Media Center. According to this News, 

Ministry of Interior: Commenting on a video clip circulated by some social media accounts, the Director General of the Capital Governorate Police Department stated that the district police called a 58-year-old woman for investigation after identifying her, after she deliberately destroyed some of the contents of a commercial store in Juffair area. This woman broke the idols related to a specific religion. He also informed that prescribed legal measures are being taken against this woman and she is being transferred to Public Prosecution.

Archive Link| Archive Link

Conclusion: After checking the facts, we have found the above post absolutely incorrect. The viral video on social media showing a Muslim woman breaking the idols of Ganesha is not from India, but it is an incident that took place in Bahrain. The concerned woman has been arrested by the local authorities under relevant sections.