Store Uploads Video of Girl Apologizing For Shoplifting, She Commits Suicide
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.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2022-11-02 06:26:06
About the Author
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.
View all posts by this Author
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.
