At least five men in southern Pakistan face up to five years in prison for injuring a camel, officials said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Friday in the Sanghar district of Sindh province when a landowner cut off the right leg of a camel that was grazing in his fields. Four other men are accused of acting as accomplices in the crime.

This brutal behaviour caused shock on social media, prompting local authorities to take action.

„The offenders have been detained by police, have confessed to the crime and could be sentenced to up to five years in prison,“ Sanghar police spokesman Muqarrab Khan told dpa.

The owner of the dugout, reportedly an ordinary peasant, did not want to register the incident himself, Mr Khan said.

The camel, about eight months old, is being cared for by an animal welfare organisation in the provincial capital Karachi.

Junaid Nazir, a spokesman for the animal shelter, said a Pakistani company had been commissioned to make the animal a prosthetic leg.