WATCH: Thief caught red-handed

WHEN she walked into the shop, she was slender.

But when she left she was too fat!

And when the metal detector at the door sounded the alarm, she had to shed her loot - pound by pound!

A video caught the whole thing on tape, and shows how the fat "thief" was stopped and taken back into the store.

It then shows the suspect removing goods hidden under her clothes one by one - from panties to baby clothes! Some are removed from her panties and bra while shoppers watch in shock.



"It looks like she stole the goods to sell them. This woman is brave," said one of the shoppers.

The "fat woman" could have got away with her illegal shopping spree had it not been for the alarm bells which alerted security.

In the video it appears that the suspect at one stage refuses to shed all her goods, and a shop employee can be seen ordering her to remove all of it.

The woman then reaches into her panties – and pulls out another packet of panties before tossing it onto the floor!

Shop employees said they suspected the woman packed the goods into a basket and went into the fitting room to stash them under her clothes.

"She wasn't so big after removing her goods and was back to her normal size," they said.

The video then shows the woman being handcuffed by security and led to the back of the store, where police are waiting. The incident is believed to have happened at a mall in Ekurhuleni over the festive season. Economic experts said crimes such as shoplifting and internal theft have a major impact on business and are a big factor behind why so many small businesses fail in the first few of years of trading.

A theft and shoplifting case was opened.