oppn parties Store Uploads Video of Girl Apologizing For Shoplifting, She Commits Suicide

News Snippets

  • The Indian envoy in Bangladesh was summoned by the country's government over the breach in the Bangladesh mission in Agartala
  • Bank account to soon have 4 nominees each
  • TMC and SP stayed away from the INDIA bloc protest over the Adani issue in the Lok Sabha
  • Delhi HC stops the police from arresting Nadeem Khan over a viral video which the police claimed promoted 'enmity'. Court says 'India's harmony not so fragile'
  • Trafiksol asked to refund IPO money by Sebi on account of alleged fraud
  • Re goes down to 84.76 against the USD but ends flat after RBI intervenes
  • Sin goods like tobacco, cigarettes and soft drinks likely to face 35% GST in the post-compensation cess era
  • Bank credit growth slows to 11% (20.6% last year) with retail oans also showing a slowdown
  • Stock markets continue their winning streak on Tuesday: Sensex jumps 597 points to 80845 and Nifty gains 181 points to 24457
  • Asian junior hockey: Defending champions India enter the finals by beating Malaysia 3-1, to play Pakistan for the title
  • Chess World title match: Ding Liren salvages a sraw in the 7th game which he almost lost
  • Experts speculate whether Ding Liren wants the world title match against D Gukesh to go into tie-break after he let off Gukesh easily in the 5th game
  • Tata Memorial Hospital and AIIMS have severely criticized former cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for claiming that his wife fought back cancer with home remedies like haldi, garlic and neem. The hospitals warned the public for not going for such unproven remedies and not delaying treatment as it could prove fatal
  • 3 persons died and scores of policemen wer injured when a survey of a mosque in Sambhal near Bareilly in UP turned violent
  • Bangladesh to review power pacts with Indian companies, including those of the Adani group
D Gukesh is the new chess world champion at 18, the first teen to wear the crown. Capitalizes on an error by Ding Liren to snatch the crown by winning the final game g
oppn parties
Store Uploads Video of Girl Apologizing For Shoplifting, She Commits Suicide

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2022-11-02 06:26:06

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

In a tragic incident, a young girl ended her life by hanging herself after the video of her apologizing to the store staff for being caught on CCTV of a store in Jaigaon in Jalpaiguri district North Bengal went viral. The girl could not bear the ignominy and humiliation as the store posted the video even after she apologized for her crime and paid for the chocolates she had tried to take away. She had repeatedly asked the store to delete the video as she had settled the matter by apologizing and paying up. But obviously, the store, instead of taking legal action for attempted theft, wanted to shame her further and somehow the video was uploaded and went viral. In a small town like Jaigaon, the girl and her family must have been hugely humiliated and she took the extreme step of ending her life.

This brings us to the question whether the store was legally, morally and ethically entitled to upload the video on social media especially after the girl had paid up and apologized. Theft is to be prosecuted under Section 379 & 380 of the IPC which carries a punishment of a jail term up to three years or fine or both. Shoplifting is obviously theft (and is endemic in India resulting in huge loss to stores) but if the store has CCTV in place and catches the culprit, it has two choices - either to prosecute them as per Section 379 or ask them to pay up and let the matter go. In no case can the store do both things - get the culprit to pay up and then shame them by uploading the video of their apology. For, if the store does not take the legal route and settles the matter by getting the payment, the matter should end there. In the instant case, the store was legally, morally and ethically wrong to upload the video. There should be an inquiry in the matter (the Jalpaiguri police have already started one) and the guilty must be appropriately punished for forcing a young girl to end her life.