Was an ‘injured’ horse paraded in Mumbai on Muharram? No, claim is misleading

What’s the claim?

A video of two men leading a horse, with seemingly multiple wound marks on its body, through a large crowd has been shared on social media with a claim that the men from the Muslim community lacerated the horse to parade it through the streets on Muharram.

An X (formerly Twitter) user shared the video and wrote, “Ashura in India...This year, in the streets of Mumbai, Muslims take a terrified, innocent horse, repeatedly slash it with a knife, and parade the bloodied, injured animal around to commemorate the death of the Prophet’s grandson. These psychopaths have grown tired of slashing and beating themselves and have instead decided to target an innocent animal. How is this allowed (sic)?”

The post had 1.6 million views and over 22,000 likes at the time of writing this story. Other social media users criticized the Muslim community for using knives and blades to injure the animal. Archives of similar posts can be found here and here.

Screenshot of the viral posts that claim a horse was injured to be paraded on the streets. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar and Ashura is the tenth day of Muharram which marks the death of Imam Hussain at the Battle of Karbala. On the day of Ashura, Shia Muslims observe a ritual in which they parade a horse in honor of Imam Hussain's horse, which sustained severe injuries during the battle of Karbala. 

However, the claim about parading an injured horse is false. We found that the video is from Dongri, Mumbai. A police personnel present at the spot also confirmed to Logically Facts that the injuries seen on the horse were not real.

What we found

A Google search for Ashura processions in Mumbai led us to a video uploaded on YouTube by a channel called Shia Agency (archived here) on July 17, 2024. We compared the video with the viral video and we can see the man seen at 0:04 in the viral video at 0:25 counter in the YouTube video. 

A comparison of the man and the horse seen in the X video and YouTube video. (Source: X/YouTube) 

We can also see the other man leading the horse at 0:18 seconds in the viral video and at 0:30 in the YouTube video.

A comparison of the man in the viral video and the man seen in the YouTube video (Source: X/YouTube)

At the timestamp of 0:16 seconds, we also can see a man spraying red color on the horse's body.

(Source: YouTube/ShiaAgency)

Ashura was reportedly celebrated in Dongri, Bandra, Mira Road, and Versova in Mumbai on July 17, 2024. We geolocated the viral video on Google Maps and found that the video was recorded at Hazrat Imam Hussain Chowk in Dongri, Mumbai. The green-colored building seen in the viral video is the Sunni Shafi Masjid, and we identified the signboard of the Dongri Police Station next to the mosque as well.

A comparison of the location seen in the X video with Google Maps. (Source: X/Google Maps)

Logically Facts spoke to a police personnel, who didn't wish to be named, from the Dongri police Zone 1 station. He was present at the spot during the procession and confirmed that the horse had been painted on and was not injured. 

We also found a comment (archive here) by Meet Ashar, a PETA India manager, who said that the horse was not lacerated. He shared multiple videos from the procession, one of which showed a man painting on the white horse. 

 
The X post shared by PETA member Meet Ashar and the video he shared of the horse being painted on (Source: X/asharmeet02)

Parading a horse depicting injured during the Ashura procession is a custom followed by Shia Muslims around the world. Images from across the world can be seen here and here.

The verdict

Our research shows that the horse paraded during the Ashura procession in Dongri, Mumbai had wounds painted over its body. The horse was not lacerated, as claimed by social media users.