Caught on camera beating up horse, BJP's Ganesh Joshi defends the act

How do you react after being filmed beating up a horse mercilessly during a protest and leaving it to bleed? Protest a little more about how the media did not give you a chance to defend your position, believes Ganesh Joshi, BJP MLA from Uttarakhand, who is currently facing flak for putting up a gruesome show of animal cruelty.

Joshi, who can be seen wielding a lathi aimed at a police personnel riding the horse, blames the media for its biased coverage of the event, maintaining that he did not injure the horse - whose leg will soon be amputated.

The BJP MLA told India Today TV that his apparent reckless reaction was actually an attempt to protect fellow protesters. He suggested that a party worker was left paralysed after being assaulted by a police personnel. This, the MLA says, forced him to intervene with lathi and blows to ensure there were no more casualties.

Visuals of BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi lathi-charging the horse during BJP protest against state Government earlier today. pic.twitter.com/Ct2OQiLlRz

— ANI (@ANI_news) March 14, 2016

Joshi stands his ground even as the horse has lost his permanently - with broken bones and a mercy killing to look forward to. Does India need such legislators who offer defence to justify barbarity?

Meanwhile, Joshi has shared a Facebook post in his defence, detailing his version of the event: