Claim: An Indian man will send an artificial limb for a camel whose right leg was chopped off in Sindh’s Sanghar district on 14 June.
Fact: The camel will not receive any prosthetic limb from India. Instead, a Pakistani company, Bioniks, is supporting the injured animal by working on a prosthesis.
On 16 June 2024, news website Startup Pakistan claimed (archive) in a Facebook post that an Indian man will send an artificial limb for the grieving camel whose right leg was chopped off in Mund Jamrao village, Sanghar district, Sindh on 14 June.
“Indian man to send artificial limb to grieving camel in Sindh, Pakistan,” the headline of the post states.
The caption of the post suggests that the team at The Wire Pakistan, a digital media outlet, are providing an artificial limb to the injured camel in a compassionate effort to alleviate animal suffering. It also stated that an Indian man, Rajendera, had generously donated the limb, which will be sent to Dubai on 17 June.
What happened to the camel?
On 14 June, a landlord allegedly cut off the camel’s leg as punishment for foraging in his field in Mund Jamrao village, Sanghar district, Sindh. Six suspects have been remanded in police custody in connection with the brutal mutilation of the animal.
Even though the camel’s owner, Soomar Behan, refused to identify the culprit, police lodged an FIR against six unknown persons. The suspects, Rustam Shar, Abid Shar, Jaffar Jatt, Abdul Shakoor Shar, Gul Baig Lashari, and Darya Khan Shar, were apprehended and presented before a magistrate who remanded them to police custody for four days.
Following the incident, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Shazia Marri and Senator Quratulain Marri intervened, ensuring that the injured camel, named Cammie, was transported to the Comprehensive Disaster Response Services (CDRS) animal shelter in Karachi. Veterinary doctors at CDRS are providing intensive care to manage infection and pain, with efforts to secure a prosthetic leg for the camel.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be false. A keyword search led us to a post on X by Ovais Hussain Qureshi, Chief Executive Officer at Bioniks. Bioniks is a social enterprise based in Karachi, specialising in orthotics and prosthetics services. Since 2016, it has been providing AI-driven prosthetic arms and limbs to individuals with disabilities.
In his tweet, Qureshi expressed gratitude to the Sindh government and PPP’s Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for trusting Bioniks to support the injured camel. He added that they are working on a prosthesis for the camel and “look forward to its rehabilitation.”
Responding to his tweet, senator Quratulain Marri refuted the claims and said, “Thank you, Ovais. This puts to rest all the unfounded rumours about a limb coming from India. Bioniks will be working on the prosthetic, but it will take a couple of months as the camel’s wound needs to heal first.”
Anas Niaz, the co-founder of Bioniks told Soch Fact Check, “The wounds will heal in two months. Meanwhile, we are making a structure to make [the] camel stand on its feet’s so her muscle strength can be improved.”
Despite media reports suggesting that the team at The Wire Pakistan would provide an artificial limb to the camel which was donated to them by an Indian man named Rajendera, Senator Marri clarified that she has no knowledge of who runs The Wire Pakistan or who they communicated with. She emphasised that there was never any plan for a prosthetic leg to come from India.
When Soch Fact Check sifted through The Wire Pakistan’s Facebook page, we found a post about the incident of the camel’s injury, the perpetrators’ arrest, and an update that they have been assured the camel will be provided with the necessary care by the Sindh government and the relevant organisations involved.
Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori visited the camel on 18 June, saying that the situation was truly ‘unbearable’.
Shazia Marri, who also visited the camel, posted an update on 19 June about the camel alongside a video, expressing gratitude for the collective effort to help the injured camel. The post did not mention any plan to receive donations from an Indian man named Rajendera.
Sheema Khan, the manager of the Karachi Animal Shelter, reported that satisfactory treatment is being provided to a camel in Karachi and her condition has begun to improve significantly under their care. Khan also said that the swelling in the camel’s leg had started to decrease, while she received fresh bandages to aid in her recovery.
Virality:
Several social media users and pages posted about an artificial limb being arranged from India for the camel, alongside AI-generated photos showing the camel with a prosthetic limb.
The claim was posted here, here, here and here and by Startup Pakistan on X.
On Facebook, it can be found here, here, here, here and here.
The post by Startup Pakistan received significant traction with 14,000 likes and 2,100 shares.
Conclusion: Contrary to viral claims that an Indian man would send an artificial limb for the injured camel, a Pakistani company, Bioniks, is taking the initiative by working on a prosthesis for the camel’s rehabilitation.
Background image in cover photo: Nazim Laghari
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