Man Punching 4-Year-Old Child Who He Thought Was a Mannequin

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About

Man Punching 4-Year-Old Child Who He Thought Was a Mannequin refers to a viral video of a 55-year-old Russian man punching a 4-year-old child in a store because he was allegedly confused, thinking that the child was a mannequin. The CCTV footage was taken in Kurchatov, Kursk region, Russia. In early 2024, the video was shared on Telegram and spread to websites like Reddit and Twitter / X where many posted memes about the event.

Origin

On February 2nd, 2024, Russian news outlet Fontanka^[1] reported on a man's arrest in Kurchatov, Kursk region. The 55-year-old man was arrested for punching a 4-year-old boy in a store.^[1]^[2] The man allegedly thought that the boy was a mannequin.^[1] It was reported that he was intoxicated at the time of the arrest.^[1]^[2] According to RT,^[2] the same man had been arrested two years prior for swearing on a train and molesting passengers. It was also released to RT^[2] that the boy had fully recovered from the assault.

According to Fontanka,^[1] the surveillance video of the incident was originally posted to a Telegram^[3] group called «Жесть Курск». Soon after, on February 2nd, 2024, the video was posted by X^[4] user @githii, gaining over 20.5 million views and 86,000 likes in less than a day (shown below).

Spread

Soon after, on February 2nd, 2024, the video was posted to /r/shitposting^[5] by Redditor Extreme-Elevator7128, receiving over 10,000 upvotes in less than a day.

On both Reddit and X, viral reactions ensued. For instance, on February 2nd, 2024, X^[6] user @JamzLnd quoted the video, jokingly saying, "This is so brazen I believe him 😂," receiving over 1,500 likes in less than a day (shown below, left).

Later on February 2nd, 2024, X^[7] user @Nelson81_ quoted it, asking, "But why are you going around punching mannequins?" receiving roughly 14,000 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

On Reddit, many users chimed in with viral comments shared on the /r/shitposting^[5] post. For instance, Redditor^[8] Nigeris-Gameris commented, "Oh no, a walking mannequin. Guess i have to punch it to save the day," receiving roughly 7,000 upvotes in less than a day (shown below, left).

Also on February 2nd, 2024, Redditor^[9] Melleyne commented, "When intrusive thoughts won," receiving over 2,400 upvotes in less than a day (shown below, right).