As vlogging emerges as one of the top career choices for people, a recent burglary at the home of a housewife and YouTuber in the Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh has raised concerns about the risks of displaying one’s wealth and home on social media.
The theft was reported in Mohani village, where unknown robbers allegedly broke into YouTuber Rachna Gurjar’s house during the intervening night and stole articles worth Rs 8 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.
According to the complaint filed with the Narwar police, thieves entered the YouTuber’s house around 2 am while the family members were asleep, locked them in a room, and then committed the theft.
“They locked us inside the room and then committed the burglary. They took away gold, silver jewellery, cash and a carton of energy drink, worth around Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. They also changed the angles of the CCTV cameras, possibly with a lathi, so that their faces were not recorded,” NDTV quoted Gurjar.
The family was held captive until roughly 4 AM, at which point they were alerted and saw that the door had been locked from the outside. Information was passed on to relatives, who eventually helped to release them.
Police have begun to investigate the incident. Shivpuri Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Mule stated, “We have filed a case and deployed teams to identify and nab the culprits”.
The CCTV footage inside the house is also under investigation. Sources claimed that in one of the videos, the masked thief could be seen holding a lathi to twist a CCTV camera. Police suspect the criminals could be a person from the same village or close by who knew the house and the family.
It is suspected that the burglars had previous knowledge of the house, its interior structure and the family’s lifestyle, and the same can also be verified whether the offender belonged to the same village or nearby areas.
Another crucial element to the police investigation is the social media profile of Gurjar- a prominent personality with over a lakh followers- who has recently been uploading videos in which her house, jewellery, cash and other valuables are displayed, with some including detailed views of rooms in the house.
Other videos showcase expensive articles in an open manner, and authorities suspect that these may have provided valuable information on the layout of the house and its contents. The crime has once again highlighted issues relating to privacy and online security, with investigators determining how much of the content posted online might have assisted the criminals in the operation.