Chhattisgarh: Shop owners booked for alleged theft allegations after girl commits suicide

Police in Chhattisgarh have registered cases against three of the owners of a supermarket for abetting a suicide, extortion and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes offence against a girl who allegedly committed suicide after being accused of stealing from the store.

Police said the 11th grader and her elder sister were visiting the supermarket when they were caught stealing cosmetics. They were never taken out of the store but, it is alleged, the owners coerced them into signing a written confession and taking their scooter.

The accused allegedly asked for a sum of Rs 50,000 to hand over the scooter. Instead of talking to the family, the sisters say they talked to another assistant sub inspector whom they knew. The officer then met with the store owners who insisted they should return the scooter, but if the officer would come the next day.

The police constable who had to leave their injured daughter behind in the car stated that he went the next morning to the supermarket which again put forward a demand for Rs 50,000. Later that evening, the teen committed suicide and was found hanging in the kitchen of the home.

Police Superintendent Ravi Kumar Kurre has stated the accusation had sent the girl in a state of anxiety and she did not want to inform her father. He also said that the supermarket managers didn’t have the “legal right to take that scooter”, rather than notifying the authorities.

The police have cordoned off the shopping center and opened an investigation. A cyber forensic team has been given evidence and CCTV footage to analyse, and the girl’s family held a protest, calling on the police to make urgent arrests while they issued a guarantee of “stricter action.