A video news report from Sudarshan News has gone viral which shows commotion at an apartment complex when a Muslim couple brought two goats into the building for Eid.
Those sharing the video claim that the controversy erupted ahead of the 2024 Eid-ul-Adha in a housing society in Mumbai’s Mira Road when a Muslim family brought goats onto the premises.
A social media user shared the video with the caption, “Mumbai: Mira Road. If you don’t let us sacrifice the goat then we will take your sacrifice. Hindus see, if you give a house to a ‘peace ambassador’ in your area then this is what will happen. The issue of goat slaughter has once again heated up in Mumbai. Peace ambassadors were preparing to slaughter a goat in the society. When Hindus refused, the peace ambassadors threatened to kill the Hindus.” (Translated from Hindi)
SouthCheck found that Sudarshan News’ claim is false. The incident happened in Eid 2023 which the news channel has claimed to have repeated in 2024.
We started our search by checking the official handles of Sudarshan News and found the video on the Facebook page of Sudarshan News. It was published on June 17, 2024 with the title 'Goat slaughtering issue heats up again in Mumbai.' (Translated from Hindi)
Then we searched the net using the screenshots of the ground footage used in the news report – CCTV footage of goats being brought into the building and people of the housing society protesting.
The search led us to several news reports about the incident but they were from 2023, not 2024.
We found the visual from a video report uploaded by India Today on June 28, 2023. It was titled ‘Goats in Mumbai housing society ahead of Bakrid, protests, ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants.’
The report said, “Ahead of Bakrid, a Muslim man faced significant protests and Hanuman Chalisa chants from other residents of a housing society in Mumbai's Mira Road suburb when he brought two goats to his home. In the CCTV footage, Mohsin Sheikh can be seen exiting a lift accompanied by his wife and son, as they move the goats into their home.”
“According to Sheikh, the residential society has around 200-250 Muslim families, and in previous years, the builder had provided a designated space for keeping the goats during Bakrid. However, this year, the builder refused and directed the families to seek permission from the residential society instead,” the report said.
The incident was also reported by The Hindustan Times. The report said a case was registered against 11 people under different IPCs.
The Quint also reported about the incident in which a screenshot of the video was shared.
A comparison of the screenshots used by the news reports from 2023 and the footage used by Sudarshan News shows that they are the same.
Hence, we ascertain that the claim by Sudarshan News that a communal incident from 2023 repeated in 2024 is false.
