Clip Showing Woman Urinating in Public Falsely Viral as One from India

The woman in the video clarified that the video was from Australia and not India.

Fact-Check: This video is from Australia and not India.

(Source: The Quint) 

A video allegedly showing an American woman urinating in Lake Pichola in Udaipur, India is being shared on social media.

Those sharing the clip have expressed anger and called for her to be punished.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source:Instagram/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false as this video is from Australia.

• Additionally, the woman shown in the video is Australian and not American.

What we found: We divided the video into some screenshots and performed a reverse image search of some of the frames

It directed us to the same clip posted on Ellie‐Jean Coffey's Instagram account (@elliejeancoffey) on 8 November.

• Upon examining her profile bio, we discovered that she was a sportsperson who focuses on surfing.

• We noticed that she reposted the same clip on her Instagram in Ocotober, when the video first went viral with the claim.

• Her caption clarified, "I’m setting the record straight: im Australian: this is the Aussie outback: IT WAS NOT IN INDIA." (sic.)

Here is the clarification by the user. 

(Source: Instagram) 

• A relevant keyword search revealed that the woman in the viral video was identified as Australian model and surfer Ellie-Jean Coffey and that the incident was from Australia, reported the Times of India and the Hindustan Times.

• A report by an Australian news outlet, News.AU, noted that she received death threats after the video was incorrectly alleged to depict her defecating in a lake in India.

• Coffey explained that she had not been to India and that the video was taken in the Kimberley region of Western Australia during a family boating excursion, during which she relieved herself over the edge of a boat while watching a nearby crocodile.

Conclusion: The viral video showing a woman relieving herself near a water body is from Australia and not India, as claimed.

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