Teen sells mother’s jewellery worth Rs 1.22 crore to buy lip studs, earrings costing Rs 721

“I had no idea why she wanted to sell it. She said she needed money that day. When I asked how much, she told me, ‘60 yuan.’ I asked why, and she said, ‘I saw someone with lip studs, and I thought they looked great. I wanted one too,” Wang explained to the police. “She said that the lip stud cost about 30 yuan, and they will give me another pair of earrings for 30 yuan, so 60 yuan total.”

Upon receiving the report, police quickly launched an investigation, reviewing surveillance footage and coordinating with market management. Within hours, they located the stolen items and arranged for them to be returned to Wang.

“The shop owner was out that day, so we contacted them by phone and arranged for them to come to the police station for further coordination,” said police officer Fan Gaojie.

Varied opinions

The incident has sparked a discussion among Chinese netizens. Some users have expressed sympathy on social media for the teenager, suggesting that her parents could have avoided the theft by providing pocket money. One person said, “if the family owns a million-yuan worth of jewellery, why not give the child some pocket money?”

Others, however, criticised both the theft and the parents’ failure to communicate effectively with their daughter. “Giving minors pocket money to get lip studs? As a college student, I cannot support that.”

Some argue that better communication is key to preventing such incidents. “Adolescents need to communicate with their parents. Stealing from your family is still theft. This is a failure in parenting, not an excuse to blame teenage rebellion,” said yet another person, as per SCMP.

(With inputs from South China Morning Post)