SINGAPORE: A video capturing a woman begging for forgiveness after attempting to steal toilet paper from a local car centre has gone viral, eliciting sympathy and criticism from netizens.

It is unclear exactly when the incident occurred, but a video of the incident, posted on TikTok by a man named Jimmy Ho, is circulating online. The video shows a woman wearing a mask who can be seen clutching an orange and black bag while a male voice asks her repeatedly, “What did you steal?”

https://www.tiktok.com/@jimmyho94/video/7238216871089065218

The woman seemed panicked as she opened the bag in her hand, which contained the stolen toilet paper. She said: “There is only toilet paper, and I will put it back.” She kept repeating that she would “put it back” as the store staff confronted her.

Begging the staff to let her go, she can be heard saying, “Give me a chance, please”, as she broke down in fear. She then put the toilet paper on the sofa and kept saying: “I will never come again in the future. Please, give me a chance.”

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The staff who took the video decided to let her go at this point. The woman kept saying, “I won’t come again, I won’t come again”, while walking away quickly.

According to Jimmy Ho, this was not the first instance of the woman stealing toilet paper. He claims she had already committed the act three to five times. Previously, Ho had become aware of her thefts but had chosen not to pursue the matter out of goodwill. However, this time, he decided to expose her actions by capturing the incident on video.

The TikTok video has quickly gone viral, but public opinion is divided. Some criticised the woman for resorting to theft, but others expressed sympathy and said the person who took and posted the video should not have shamed her online.

Asking what the person who posted the video gained by uploading footage of the woman’s distress for all to see, netizens said the staff shouldn’t have “bullied” the woman and should have just forgiven her, considering the relatively minor nature of the offence.

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Others expressed concerns about the impact the video could have on her well-being and said that the staff should not have shamed and embarrassed her as they did not know the circumstances she may be facing to have to resort to stealing toilet paper.