Old video of cow slaughter falsely linked to Congress victory in Karnataka

A disturbing video showing cow slaughter over a BJP flag is going viral on social media. Users claim that the gruesome animal cruelty happened after the Congress victory in the Karnataka assembly election.

A Facebook user shared the video and wrote, “In the euphoria of winning Karnataka elections these people celebrate by slaughtering #cow…”

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video is from Manipur and dates back to 2022.

On performing a reverse image search of the video's keyframe, we found the video tweeted by several users. They said Muslims slaughtered cows over the BJP flag and abused the state Chief Minister N.Biren Singh. (Click here, here and here to see the posts.)

We found that the Twitter handle of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had shared a screengrab from the Imphal Free Press report in the comment section of one such tweet by @azad_nishant. It stated, “Three arrested for allegedly slaughtering cow over BJP candidates list.”

The Imphal Free Press report published on 1 February 2022 said that three persons allegedly involved in the slaughtering of a cow were arrested by the Lilong police.

It identified the accused as Nazbul Hussain alias Mayai son of late Akbar of LilongTolen Khun, Abdur Rashid son of Md Abdur Rahim of LilongChaobokIpham and Md Arif Khan son of Md Yakup Ali of LilongHeinouMakhong. It also said that they were booked under the Prevention of Cruelty To Animal Act 1960, and for creating enmity among different groups.

PETA India had also commented on the @azad_nishant post and said, “Lilong police have arrested three accused and registered an FIR under sections 153A, 429, 504 of the IPC and Section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.”

The Times of India report from 2 February 2022 also said that three persons were held for slaughtering a cow on the BJP flag in Manipur.

Hence, we conclude that the viral video is from Manipur and dates back to 2022. The claim that the incident took place after the Congress victory in Karnataka is false.