Video: Jaipur police takes action against ‘influencer’ putting 'price tags' on women tourists in Instagram reel

JAIPUR: The Jaipur Police have filed a case against a man after a video surfaced on social media, showing him harassing women tourists for Instagram reels. The incident has sparked widespread outrage and condemnation.
The accused, Vinod Meena, a resident of Bhavpura village who operates an Instagram account under the handle @guru__brand0000, uploaded multiple videos on the platform in which he was seen harassing women and making offensive comments about them at Jaipur's famous Amer Fort.
In one of the videos, the accused approached foreign women tourists and said, "They (foreign women tourists) are available for Rs 150." He then pointed at another woman and continued, "She is available for Rs 150, she is for Rs 200, you can get her for Rs 500 and this one is for Rs 300." The woman, who apparently did not understand Hindi, kept waving at the camera.

The police stated that the video was recorded in April this year, and the accused would present himself as a local guide to the tourists, subsequently pressuring them to shop at specific stores. Prior to this incident, he was physically assaulted by a group of boys inside the Amer Fort.
As the video gained traction on X, a microblogging platform, the Jaipur Police promptly responded and apprehended the accused. An FIR was registered against him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 354 (assault or use of criminal force on any woman) and 505 (2), as well as 66D of the IT Act and 13 (1) and 13 (2) of the Rajasthan Tourism Business Act.

In a post on X, the Jaipur Police wrote, "A reel is going viral on the internet through Instagram, in which the police took strict action against the accused who touched some foreign female tourists, behaved indecently and made baseless false statements."
"During the investigation it was found that the accused used to force the tourists to buy the goods from his own designated shops," the Jaipur Police added.