Viral video: Australian model accused of relieving herself in Udaipur lake; who is Ellie-Jean Coffey?

A viral video showing a foreign woman allegedly defecating in a lake in Udaipur caused outrage online. The short clip, shared by the Instagram page Swadesi Official, showed a woman on a boat apparently relieving herself as a crocodile swam nearby.

“American tourist seen po*ping from boat into lake in Udaipur!” says the overlay caption of the video. The user asked, “Can she be deported!?”

Social media reactions have been mixed. While some found it funny, others got offended.

“Why should indian have all the fun!” quipped one of them.

“After eating spicy food,” wrote another.

“Imagine if an Indian does the same thing abroad,” wondered a user.

One of them defended her by saying, “If the boat management cannot provide a toilet, what should she do?”

“She may be returning the favour,” came one sarcastic comment.

“It's even Steven, desi folks are pooping at Wasaga Beach here in Canada - no fines were given. Why in the name of inclusion and respect to desi culture,” posted another user.

“Jaisa des waisa bhes (When in Rome, do as the Romans do),” posted another user.

According to a user, this is a regular practice, “When racing on a sailboat in open ocean, this indeed is how we p**p. Number 1 rule: the head is only used to p*ss in.”

Some users did question how it was determined that the lady was American. It turned out to be a valid question. The woman in the video is not an American. She is Ellie-Jean Coffey, an Australian professional surfer, model and social media influencer.

Ellie-Jean Coffey posted the original Instagram video on August 29. “Holding on for dear life,” she wrote in the caption.

However, after the controversy, she reposted the video and clarified, “I’m setting the record straight: I'm Australian: this is the Aussie outback: IT WAS NOT IN INDIA.”

Who is Ellie-Jean Coffey?

Ellie-Jean Coffey is the eldest of five siblings, often called the “Kardashians of the surfing world”. Her 23-year-old sister, Holly-Sue, is also a model and pro surfer with a large online following.

Ellie-Jean, now 30, was ranked sixth on Playboy’s list of hottest surfers. Her younger sisters, Ruby-Lee and Bonnie-Lou, also appear frequently on her social media and share her passion for surfing.

Her brother, Jackson, is also a professional surfer. With surfing parents, the Coffey family spent the past decade travelling the world in a camper van, homeschooling and competing in surf events.

In October 2015, she featured in Over the Rainbow. The YouTube video called the-then 20-year-old “one of the most popular female surfers in the world”.