Cape Town — An Algerian man who held a baby out of a 15th-floor window in order to gain Facebook likes has been jailed, reports Al Arabiya English.

According to the report, the man, who has not been named, posted a photo of himself holding the baby out of a window in an apartment block in the capital Algiers.

In the picture, a single hand is seen gripping the child's T-shirt with the caption: "1,000 likes or I will drop him".

The horrific picture went viral, prompting social media users to demand his arrest for child abuse. After his arrest, the defendant, who is reportedly related to the toddler, denied putting the child's life at risk, saying the image had been photoshopped by social media users.

After alleging that the balcony had protective barriers which had been removed from the original picture, the court was not convinced and sentenced him to two years in prison.