Despite closed-door settlement being a popular practice in stealing cases, in the legal sense, it is wrong for any store manager to detain alleged thieves. The right thing to do is to call the police.

But since few stores have been pulled up by law enforcers for detaining alleged thieves, the illegal practice has become an unwritten rule for store managers. Such a practice jeopardizes the legitimate rights of the alleged thieves and, in some extreme cases, leads to serious consequences, such as suicide, as it happened in the Yongchang case.

The girl in the Yongchang case was wrong if police investigation proves that she indeed stole the chocolate bars. But the convenient store managers must be held responsible and punished if they did detain the girl.

Given the prevalence of such wrongful detention, the authorities should intensify their law-popularization campaigns so that more people become aware of their legitimate rights — even if they have done something wrong. And the police should respect the legitimate rights of alleged thieves and must not be lenient with stores and supermarkets that detain people for alleged robbery.

Social organizations and media outlets, too, have important roles to play in educating disadvantaged groups about their legal rights and help them access legal aid services when they are trapped in disputes.

Besides, the authorities should take special measures to better protect minors in such cases, because they are more vulnerable and sensitive to humiliation that comes with detention and being shamed publicly.

The author is a senior writer with China Daily. [email protected]