Trigger Warning: This story contains graphic photos and videos of violence and murder. Readers are advised to open links at their own discretion.
Claim: Photo shows the owner of a camel, whose right leg was recently chopped off in Sanghar, Sindh, has been killed.
Fact: The photo actually shows the dead body of a man identified as Anwar Mallah who was killed by his opponents in Hafizabad, Punjab. According to the Sindh Police, the camel owner Soomar Behan is alive.
Fact or Fiction?
On 17 June 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user Azmat Ullah Khan (@AzmatKhanTDP) claimed that the owner of a camel, whose right leg was chopped off in Sanghar, Sindh on 14 June, has been killed. His post includes an image of a man in white bloodied clothes. We also found a video apparently showing the same man being shot.
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be false. A keyword search led us to a post by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Quratulain Marri who clarified that the viral photo shows a man who was murdered in Punjab. PPP MNA Shazia Marri reiterated that a video of a “brutal incident” from Punjab is being falsely attributed to the camel owner from Sindh, and called on social media users to help expose this misinformation.
Journalist Rai Saqib Kharal also pointed out that the viral photo is from Hafizabad, Punjab.
We searched Google with the term “حافظ آباد قتل [Hafizabad killing]” and came across an article by Geo News Urdu from 17 June titled, “حافظ آباد: 13 مسلح ملزمان کی ایک شخص پر فائرنگ، لاش پر گولیاں برساکرویڈیو بناتے رہے [Hafizabad: 13 armed suspects shot at a person, shot on the body and made a video].”
The report stated that 13 armed suspects killed a man named Anwar Mallah due to a longstanding feud in Hafizabad’s Chah Chora area. The attackers filmed themselves shooting the victim’s body and spread the video on social media to instill fear in the community. Aaj News and Daily Pakistan also reported on the incident.
The Indian fact-checking outlet DFRAC, also a signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, investigated a different claim which stated that the video shows a Pakistani Hindu being killed by radical Islamists in Sindh. The fact-check also concluded that it actually shows a man, identified as Anwar Mallah, being killed by his opponents in Hafizabad, Punjab.
Meanwhile, various media outlets, including Samaa and Dunya News, have debunked the viral news about the murder of the camel owner Soomar Behan. They cited statements from the Sindh Police spokesperson who said that the news is false. Bol News also debunked the news, citing SSP Sanghar who refuted the claim.
Virality:
The claim can be found here, here, here, here and here on X.
On Facebook, it was posted here, here, here and here.
Conclusion: A viral image and video does not show the body of the injured camel’s owner Soomar Behan. It actually depicts Anwar Mallah, who was shot dead by his opponents in Hafizabad, Punjab. According to the Sindh Police, the camel owner from Sanghar is alive.
Background image in cover photo: Torkoyarolegovic/Wallpaper.com
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