A video of an Indian-origin woman, Yogini Varma, a New Jersey resident, being interrogated by the police on allegations of stealing designer goods, a diamond bracelet from Short Hills Mall, went viral as a YouTube channel released the bodycam footage recently. The incident, however, took place on January 1, 2025, reports said. The YouTube channel took down the video, though clips of it are being widely circulated. Verma was arrested and charged with shoplifting and possession of stolen goods. She was later released pending a court appearance. The woman was in a Tesla coming out of the parking of the mall when the police stopped her. She was asked whether she took something from the mall without paying. Varma denied and said the cops could check her. She was asked specifically whether she took a diamond bracelet from the mall. To this, she said she picked one but kept it right there from where she took it, or it might have slipped.Eventually, the bracelet was seen around her wrist and she apologized for taking it by mistake. After Varma was handcuffed, officers asked her if she had anything else on her. She said she had something in her car that she had to return to the mall.A search of Varma’s car revealed that she had shopping bags from Anthropologie, Macy’s, Nordstrom, and J.Crew containing expensive clothes, many still with labels and security tags attached and there were no receipts. “You could say that they are stolen too, I don’t know what to say at this point,” she said when she grew flustered.Recently, several such incidents where Indian-origin women were caught shoplifting in US stores came to the surface. In July, a woman attempted to steal goods worth over $1300 from a Target store in Illinois. While she was being interrogated, she said she was ready to pay for the things she stole. Another similar incident took place much earlier at another Target store on January 15, where a woman was seen gasping for breath as she was being interrogated.
