Cops Carry Out DNA Test In $2 Yoghurt Theft, Complainant's Roommate Charged

In a bizzare case in Taiwan, police carried out a $98 DNA test to figure out who stole a $2 yoghurt drink. According to BBC, the incident occurred when an unnamed woman in Taipei, living in student housing with five other women, discovered that someone had stolen her yoghurt drink. They were all students at the Chinese Cultural University.

When one of the women discovered that someone had eaten her NT$59 (approximated US$2) yoghurt, she fished the empty container out of the dustbin and asked the culprit to come forward. When no one did, she took the empty container to the police and asked for their help.

The police accepted the case and agreed to carry out an official investigation. However, the container was too wet to look for fingerprints, so the complainant asked cops to carry out a DNA test - which they again accepted!

Police asked all of the five suspects, as well as the woman who had made the allegations, to come to the police station for forensic testing.

The move led to huge public outrage in the city, as each DNA test costs NT$3,000 (around $98) and comes out of taxpayer money. According to local reports, citizens reacted angrily to the use of public money and police resources being spent on such a trivial matter.

One local, Mr Liu, told the Apple Daily newspaper: "It is a waste of society's resources. If I was a police officer, I would have just bought her a bottle to reimburse her."

One of the woman's roommates has been charged with theft in the case.