hi
i am new in this forum. recently i am in a very problem
lam a house wife. i have a 3.5year old baby. i am not working here. i am frm india. basically i am very poor family. my husband is working here. we have C-type permit. .
2weeks before. i went to migros. i brought lot of thinhs like milk bread, 2 cup, peanut,etc...
and also 1t-shirt(17.90chf) ,2halfpant (12.90chf)and 1 hair band (5chf), i neckles(6.90chf). for my little engel. i put all these staf in the sit of my baby `s stroiler. i was coming from the kinder krippe. my daughter was crying a lot she didn^T wanted to go there . i dont know why. she was crying a lot that day. then from the krippe they said . don`t worry this is normal. you can go everything will be ok. but i was unmind full that day and was thinking of my daughter.
and finally what happend I for got to pay for thoses staff which i brought for my daughter. when i was cross zhe counter some alarm rang. and one lady come to me. and told me come with us. i was so scared. that what happen. then they took that t shirt ,pant etc... which i put on the strooler,and forgot to pay. i told them. i am sorry but they didn`t listn to me. call police. and said pay for the staff. and 100chf ertra. i paid then and there. then i said that i am sorry i am not like that. i forgot to pay i was thinking about my daughter. but theysaid we can not do any thing now one month later a letter will come to yoz from staatsaanwahlscaft. i have no idea what is that. i asked them what i did sorry for that. but they said you have to pay penalty for that. i have no idea how much is that

now what i will do. i can not say this to my husband. he will be angry and wont give me money i know that. any advice what i will do now
thanx in advance
regards

This last sentence moved me the most.

Mistakes happen. Sometimes we have to pay for our mistakes. We are all human. I'm sorry Migros called the police on this but it happened.

Do you have any friends you can contact? Or, if you feel you are alone, call a woman's center. http://www.frauenhaus-schweiz.ch/

I'm sorry you can't talk to your husband about this. A healthy marriage would survive this kind of ordeal.

Life sucks sometimes. This is one of those times. Hang in there. You were right to ask for advice. It will help you find a solution.

Good luck.

The CHF100 they extracted from you is likely the Umtriebsentschädigung ( Administrative / inconvenience fee ).

Staatsanwaltschaft = Public Prosecutor ( crime )

Crime requires both a guilty mind and act ( by not paying ) - forgetting arguably could be invoked as a defense, the error resulting from a very good reason ( daughter in distress ).

Did you pay for some goods that you bought or did you put everything in the stroller and paid for nothing?

If it helps, you are not the first that this has happened to. My mum did the same when my sister and I were small. We were fighting and squabbling in a department store and my mum left with a pair of shoes tucked under her arm (she was super-angry that she didn't even feel them there). The store detective collared her and hauled us all off to the office for an interrogation. For us, it ended when the store detective and manager kind of understood that my mum was having a hard time with my sister and I (who had decidedly shut up at the point the uniformed burly bloke confronted us all at the door ) and we were let go with a warning.

My mum was mortified about the whole incident and we never returned to that particular shop.

Don't stress about it, it happens and you know in your heart you didn't intend to steal. Some people just don't understand how your head is all over the place when you've got a child that decides to be difficult when you need to concentrate.

That is true, it has even happened to me, being a very absent-minded person at times. I walked out of a store with something under my arm too. When I realized it I went back to the check out and paid, honest good girl that am. Nobody had noticed. Why don't you tell your husband and try to make him understand? if you are really scared, maybe you have a friend that could be present as moral support?

So by the sounds of this:

1. Accidentally forgot to pay for some items.
2. Alarm goes off and escorted back in.
3. Items paid for PLUS additional fee
4. Now public prosecuted crimes will be involved with additional fees/ramifications.

Is this correct?

(Of course and the issues with the husband, but I'm not addressing that in this post)

i paid for the other things(17.90) which i put on the top of the strooler. like milk bread peanut etc.. but rest of the things i put on the sit of the pram. i dont know how i for got...

Did you ask for and get a receipt for the CHF100 ??

Surely you cant pay for the same crime twice or the 100chf was a fine from Migros and nothing to do with the law??

Still though... paying for the crime twice seems... well... ilegal

Unfortunately, people who are thieves use the same excuse.

The best thing you can do is continue to be honest. Get your story absolutely straight, so that you can tell it the same way each time. If you tell the story differently each time you're asked, then that will be taken as evidence of guilt.

You can appeal to character witnesses. If you can find people of "good-standing" in the community who are prepared to speak on your behalf, to explain that you are not dishonest, that you just were forgetful and you had no intention to not pay.

Try not to use the word "mistake". That sounds like an excuse rather than a reason.

Your husband has a duty to provide you if. If he fails in that duty, then he's the one at fault. If his anger ends up in violence, then please be aware that such things are illegal in this country and you can get help.

What Olygirl says is right.

yes . i paid that 45-90 chf for thoses things which i was for got to pay. and 100chf extra fine. and still they call police they took my details. and said i will get a letter... now still yet i didn`t get the letter. but i dont know what i will do now.afterthat i went to the police station and told them i am really sorry . they said wait for the letter. but what kind of punishment they will give me. i have a baby what i will do now. i can not say this to my husband. i know him very well he is not so friendly.

ya. they gave me one blue colour recipt

OK so now I wonder do you have to tell your husband? is it that you are financially depending on him and he would have to give you the money to pay for a fine?

What if it isn't about violence but other treatment? Denying help with financial needs beyond sustenance such as saying that one should be happy to have food and a roof... ?

Ok, Not helpful but....

WIll he see the mail or can you get to it first?

Maybe it will be worse if he gets the mail before you have told hime the truth..

personally I find it ridiculous that you had to pay a 'migros' fine. Either it's a criminal matter, and you pay the fines to the police, or it's a private matter with the store and you pay their fine.

If they were going to call the police, I would have refused to pay that fine--but again hindsight is 20-20. This might just be a case of being Switzerlanded.

As for your husband, I think you should tell him, but how you do it is very important. If he is a decent human adult, he will understand, maybe be a bit upset, perhaps disappointed, but mistakes happen, and you are taking responsibility for is: like a decent human adult. To tip-toe around it is a slippery slope of distrust which could potentially lead to larger problems in the future.

Questions to expats:

How does this offence affect her visa?
Is it possible for her to pay this without her husband finding out?

As for the possibility of our OP having an abusive husband, this is an issue she will have to decide on herself. She's in a foreign land, has a toddler and is financially dependent on her husband. Be kind to her.

The consequesnces can be serious against her VISA.... deportation and no chance of another visa for a number of years BUT Hopefully if she can speak to some one with kids .. well they might be a little more understanding of what happened.

Edit- All crime is taken quite seriously. I would have assumed that only the "major" crimes would have those consequences but apparently I am a little naive.

Chances are it will be a (further) fine. I doubt very very much whether a C-permit holder would be deported over a matter of petty theft.

Many shops issue a fine to shoplifters - it's usually on the notices. It's because if someone steals from a shop, the administrative cost to the business is not zero - it's an effort to recoup that, which they wouldn't get from the legal system

Definitely wrong as well - but perhaps not illegal. Though mental cruelty/abuse does figure. It's beyond me. I love my wife, and we look out for each other. I have very little respect for "men" who don't support their spouses.

I feel for you Tuhina. But you must see that unfortunately, having 'forgotten to pay' is the most commonly used excuse people give in such cases, and when not having a ticket for public transport, etc. The cost to us customers is huge- and what are the shops/police to do? If forgetting becomes a valid 'excuse' - what next?

They will possible find it strange too that you paid for the cheap food items, but put the more expensive not food items in a place not easily seen, and forgot to pay for them, but not the cheap ones. I can truly see both sides here.

I wish you the very best of luck and hope the authorities will accept your plea and treat you kindly, and that the matter won't go to court. I also agree that it may be best to tell your husband - but you are the only one who can judge this, knowing him best. Being a a foreign land without family and friends' support - with a husband who is 'less than understanding' must be very tough. Bonne chance - thinking of you. Odile