Video of stealing chocolate at shopping mall goes viral, college girl dies by suicide

A college student allegedly died by suicide in West Bengal’s Alipurduar district after a video of her stealing chocolates at a shopping mall went viral on social media, police said on Monday.

The body of the third-year undergraduate student was found hanging in her house in Subhas Pally in Jaigaon police station area on Sunday, they said.

The body was sent for post-mortem examination and an investigation was underway, officer-in-charge of Jaigaon Prabir Dutta said.

The girl went to a shopping mall in the area on September 29 along with her sister, and she was caught while getting out of it after allegedly stealing chocolates, her father said.

She paid the price of the chocolates and apologised to the store authorities, he said.

However, people at the store made a video of the whole incident and posted it on social media which went viral, he added.

Out of humiliation, she took the extreme step, the father said.

Locals staged protest outside the shopping mall after the body was found, demanding strong action against those who made the video and posted it online.

The shopping mall authorities could not be reached immediately for comment.