A tribal girl from Tripura was found hanging at her home on Sunday, 27 May, after she was allegedly accused of shoplifting and subsequently expelled from school, reported NDTV. Her mother alleged that she was falsely blamed by the staff of a Big Bazaar outlet in Barkathal of shoplifting three days before her death.
The Big Bazaar employees abused my daughter alleging that she had stolen their products. She rang me up and said, ‘please come with Rs 4,000 and take me home.’ She spoke to me from Big Bazaar. She said that they have kept her in their custody because she was a thief. My daughter never did such a thing.Tribal girl’s mother to ANI
According to NDTV, the girl was a class 12 student at Auxilium Girls Higher Secondary School. Her friends, who had gone to Big Bazaar with her, claimed she was falsely blamed and made to wait, even though no closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage showed her shoplifting.
The mall and the school authorities have refused to comment on the incident, the report added.
According to NDTV, the youth wing of Indigenous Poeople's Front of Tripura has demanded justice for the girl. The National Students Union of India, protesting in front of Big Bazaar, demanded CCTV footage of the entire incident as well as police action, while the Twipra Students Federation (TSF) has demanded a magesterial inquiry.
While the police had registered a case of unnatural death earlier, they added abetment to suicide following the mother's complaint about the school and the mall staff. The police seized CCTV footage of Big Bazaar.
(With inputs from ANI and NDTV)
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