CLAIM
A set of images went viral on social media with the claim that a 400-year-old statue of Lord Shiva was vandalised by ‘peacefuls’.
Though the claim doesn’t directly blame Muslims, it attributed the damage done to ‘peacefuls’ – sarcastically used to refer to Muslims, referring to the oft-made statement that Islam is a ‘religion of peace’.
A Twitter user, in a series of tweets, had mentioned that the statue is located in Pratapgarh, Gondia in Maharashtra.
Some social media users also referred to the people who vandalised the idol as ‘jihadis.’
THE TRUTH
The Shiva statue was not vandalised, rather it was most likely damaged because of a thunderstorm, police officials said.
On doing a Google search using keywords ‘Shiva+Idol+Gondia’, we found a story by news agency PTI which also suggested that the statue might have been damaged due to a thunderstorm.
Titled ‘Idol atop hill found damaged after thunderstorm,’ the report mentioned that the 15-feet-tall Shiva statue was located on Pratapgarh hills in Arjuni Morgaon tehsil in Gondia district.
According to the PTI report, the statue was, “found in half-burnt condition on Friday, with preliminary inspection suggesting that lightning may have struck it.”
The Quint also got in touch with Gondia police, who confirmed that there was no communal angle to the incident.
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