An intermediate student died a few minutes after he walked out of DMart hypermarket at Vanasthalipuram without paying the money for chocolates he allegedly picked up on Sunday, police said.
The victim, from Jogi Tanda in Suryapet district, was pursuing his second year intermediate from Sri Chaitanya Junior College (Residential), Hayathnagar branch.
Outing
On Sunday morning, he along with three other students came on an outing, police said.
Around 9 p.m.. they went to DMart to buy footwear. “As they didn’t like the models on display, they decided to leave the store, before which the youngster picked a few chocolates and put them in his pocket,” Vanasthalipuram inspector A. Venkataiah said.
“A sales executive who noticed this alerted the security, who in turn asked the teenagers to return for checking. While going back to the store, the youngster suddenly collapsed and was rushed to a nearby private hospital where he was declared dead,” he said.
However, the victim’s parents on Monday alleged that their son was beaten to death by DMart staff for allegedly stealing chocolates and also accused the college management for letting the victim go on outing without their consent.
Parents stage protest
They staged demonstrations outside the store and the college.
“The video footage of surveillance cameras clearly shows that the boy collapsed before reaching the security -- and so far, we are not suspecting any foul play,” the inspector said.
The youngsters parents told police that they were not aware of the outing. However, the college management maintained that they called the victim's local guardian, his cousin, who agreed for ‘self-outing’.
Police suspect that the teenager had a panic attack and died.
“However, the exact cause of death can be known only after the post-mortem report,” Mr. Venkataiah said.
A case was registered and a probe is on.