Police officers in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia surprised a woman by donating some basic household items to her after she was caught for shoplifting.

Tried stealing some items at a hypermarket

The woman, who is in her 30s, according to The Star, had stolen some food items and fever relief pads for her son at a local hypermarket.

She was then caught by some security guards and a police report was lodged.

The case caught the attention of Assistant Commissioner Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal.

In a video on Malaysia's TV3, Nik explained that the police had "studied her case" and came to the conclusion that she required help instead.

Nik said:

"I felt the need to visit this woman. I believe she is facing problems. If not, she wouldn’t have done such a thing. If we get hungry, we can bear with it, but if our children are hungry, that’s a different story"

Donated items to her family

On Jan. 21, several police officers, including Nik, visited the woman's house and gave her basic household necessities.

They also brought a care package from Malaysia's Welfare Department for her family.

According to Nik, the woman's son had a fever on Jan. 20 but she didn't have enough money to buy fever relief pads for him.

She resorted to stealing as that was the only thing she could do at that moment.

Nik also found out that the woman had recently lost her babysitter job.

Her husband works as a maintenance technician, but he has not been receiving any jobs lately.

Thus, the couple have been struggling to make ends meet to feed their family of five over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

No further action taken against her

"I believe she acted the way she did because of her circumstances," said Nik.

He added that "no further action" would be taken against her, and no arrests were made.

However, she was advised not to resort to committing any crimes again.

Before he left, Nik also told the woman that if she ever needed help, she could also go to his police station any time.

You can watch the full video here:

Top image screenshots via Bulletin TV3/Facebook.