A video showing a distressing police encounter involving an Indian woman caught shoplifting at a Target store in the US has recently gone viral on social media. The footage, recorded on a police bodycam, originally dates back to January 15 but resurfaced online after being shared by a YouTube channel, igniting debate and backlash.

In the clip, the woman can be seen visibly overwhelmed, sobbing, gasping for air, and struggling to speak as police begin questioning her. One of the officers tells her, “Right now you’re not free to leave,” indicating that the situation had escalated beyond a simple misunderstanding.

As the officers try to calm her, one instructs, “Do me a favour, take a big breath as deep in as you can. You gotta take a deep breath. Do not hyperventilate. Cause I gotta be able to talk to you, and I can’t talk to you with you breathing like that.”

She tells the police that she does not speak English fluently and identifies her native language as Gujarati. When asked where the language is from, she replies, “India.” Despite the language barrier, she declines the offer for an interpreter and insists she can manage the conversation in English.

Police were also concerned about her rapid breathing and asked whether she had any medical conditions. Throughout the interaction, her state of distress persisted. Officers mentioned that she had been in that condition for nearly 40 minutes without providing coherent information.

During the investigation, Target employees presented surveillance footage that showed the woman leaving the store with a cart full of unpaid items. A staff member confirms the footage by saying, “Just walked straight out,” after an officer remarked, “So she just put everything in the cart and then just walked past.”

Indian Woman Admits Theft Plan

When asked for identification, she revealed she held a driver’s license issued by the state of Washington. Target staff further added that while she was a frequent shopper at the store, this was the first time she had been caught engaging in theft. Eventually, the woman admitted her plan to resell some of the stolen merchandise.

Though she wasn’t arrested on the spot, officers told her she would be required to appear in court and warned her not to return to that particular store, as it could result in a trespassing charge. At one point during the interrogation, she received a phone call from an unidentified individual, which she answered amid the questioning.

This case mirrors a similar incident that took place in July in Illinois. In that case, another Indian woman was accused of attempting to shoplift goods worth around Rs 1.1 lakh ($1,300) from a Target store. She had reportedly spent over seven hours inside the store before trying to exit with the unpaid items. Bodycam footage from that case also went viral, showing her apologising and saying, “I am really sorry to bother you if it is. I am not from this country. I am not going to stay here.” A police officer responded, “Are you allowed to steal things in India? I did not think so.”

While no immediate legal outcomes have been publicly confirmed, the viral footage has fueled larger conversations around cultural accountability, shoplifting, and emotional manipulation during legal proceedings.