A 17-year-old girl, the daughter of a constable, allegedly died by suicide after the owner of a shopping mart in Chhattisgarh’s Koriya district accused her of stealing cosmetics, seized her scooter and allegedly demanded money to return it, police said on Thursday.
The Class XI student was found hanging in the kitchen of her house in the Police Lines area under Baikunthpur police station limits on Wednesday afternoon. Police have registered a case against three owners of IC Mart, sealed the supermarket and begun examining CCTV footage and other evidence. The incident also triggered a protest by relatives of police personnel, who later blocked a road for about half an hour demanding immediate arrests.
According to a police official, the girl had gone to IC Mart at Sanjay Chowk with her younger sister on July 7 to buy household items. ‘The girl had visited IC Mart at Sanjay Chowk with her younger sister on July 7 to purchase household items. The mart owner allegedly accused her of attempting to steal cosmetic items, although the sisters had not left the store with the goods. The owner allegedly made the girl and her sister write and sign a statement admitting to theft, and confiscated the scooter they had arrived on,’ he said.
The official said the owner allegedly told the sisters that the scooter would not be returned unless money was paid. The girl did not tell her family about the incident, but informed an assistant sub-inspector known to her.
The ASI later contacted the mart owner and asked him to return the scooter, but he allegedly said it had been sent elsewhere and could be collected the next morning, the official said.
Constable Shivnath Singh Paikra, the girl’s father, said he went to the mart after learning about the incident on Wednesday morning and alleged that the shop owner demanded Rs 50,000 for returning the scooter. He said that while he had gone to the bus stand on Wednesday afternoon to receive his wife, his daughter allegedly died by suicide at home.
Koriya Superintendent of Police Ravi Kumar Kurre said, ‘The girl went into depression after being accused of theft and being pressured over the scooter. She could not tell her father because she was afraid she would be scolded. The mart owner had no authority to confiscate the scooter or act on his own instead of informing the police.’
Police said a case has been registered against IC Mart owners Deepak Vaid, Vinod Vaid and Jagat Vaid under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for abetment of suicide of a child, extortion, robbery, obscene acts and other offences. The supermarket has been sealed, and a cyber forensic team has examined CCTV footage and other material from the premises.
Meanwhile, relatives of police personnel staged a protest outside Baikunthpur police station and later blocked a road for around 30 minutes, demanding the immediate arrest of the accused. The blockade was lifted after senior officials pacified the protesters. Overall, the case centres on allegations that the teenager was accused of theft, made to sign a written statement and pressured over the return of her scooter before she died by suicide, with police now investigating the role of the three mart owners.
– Ends
with PTI inputs
Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Jul 9, 2026 23:41 IST
