A woman from an Indian tour group in Japan was allegedly caught shoplifting at a souvenir shop and later tried to offer money to both the shopkeeper and police officers as bribes after being caught, according to a viral post on X.
The account was shared by Muthukrishnan Dhandapani, who said the incident happened during a group trip to Japan.
According to Dhandapani, group members did not know the woman had been stealing items until she was caught at a tourist souvenir shop.
“In our group, from the beginning one lady has been shoplifting. We were not aware of it. In one of the tourist souvenir shops, she was caught,” he wrote on X.
Dhandapani claimed the woman immediatelyoffered to pay money after being caught. However, the shopkeeper was more upset by the offer than the alleged theft itself.
“The Japanese shop keeper said that they are a high trust society where stealing is rare and have great respect for India. He said more than stealing, what offended him was offering money after being caught,” Dhandapani wrote.
The shopkeeper called the police, and the group's tour manager accompanied the woman to the police station.
According to the post, the woman again offered money while at the station.
“In police station too that lady offered money. The Japanese police was not amused,” Dhandapani said.
He claimed that the officers explained that shoplifting is treated seriously in Japan and warned that the woman could face jail time.
“They explained how severe the punishment is for stealing and said she needs to go to jail. But she being an Indian and they respect India a lot, she was let go with severe warning,” he wrote.
