Russian 81-Year-Old Collapses Dead After Being Hauled For 'Stealing' $4 Butter

There is no evidence that supports the charge against an elderly World War II Leningrad Blockade survivor in St. Petersburg, Russia. She was accused of shoplifting three packs of butter.

The woman died of a suspected heart attack in a police station.

On Tuesday, 81-year-old Rauza Galimova from St. Petersburg was standing in line to pay for her groceries at Magnit, Russia's biggest grocery chain. Eyewitnesses say that she had already bought most of her goods, when the cashiers asked the security to check her bag in front of a queue, according to rt.com.

Police confirm that three packs of butter valued at 300 rubles, or $4, were found in the bag. Pilfering objects valued at 1,000 rubles is not an offence under the Russian law, but can be fined. Yet Galimova, with a history of heart disease, who is said to struggle to walk upstairs to her flat, was instead taken to a local police station.

"As soon as she arrived in the lobby, she began to complain about feeling unwell," said the St. Petersburg police.

She then collapsed, her lips blue. By the time the doctors came, she was already dead.

Prosecutors went through the CCTV video installed in the store, showing the 81-year-old agreeing immediately to pay for the butter when the store accused her of stealing.

"As things stand now there are no grounds to claim that she stole that butter," attorney for the city Marina Nikolaeva was quoted as saying. "They did not take the money, however, and immediately called police," Nikolaeva said, referring to the store's employees.

Vladimir Sokolov, her nephew, confirmed that officers later found 1,500 rubles ($22) in her purse. She was already entitled to a pension of 25,000 rubles ($370) a month, lived a fairly comfortable lifestyle and was supported by her family.

"She wasn't a woman on a downward slope, or on the margins of society - by any stretch of imagination," said Emma Leshina, who was the head of an organization supporting the survivors of the Leningrad siege between 1941 and 1944.

According to reports, Galimova has already suffered two heart attacks and maybe suffering from dementia.

"When we visited her for her 80th birthday, we noticed that she was not responding appropriately to questions, and did not exhibit alertness. But alternatively, we had a commemoration of the end of the siege just last week, and maybe psychologically she was replaying those times of hunger, and that prompted her to behave in what was for her, an atypical way," said Leshina.

There was a storm of protests. Even the prominent actor Ivan Okhlobystin tweeted that the cops were "idiots", while others wondered why she was subjected to so much public humiliation. Anyone could have come up to pay the trivial sum, point out a few.

Magnit's Chief Executive and owner Sergey Galitskiy admitted the error in calling the cops. Public organization Consumers Union of St. Petersburg always receives complaints against the staff members, which includes a refusal to permit elderly women to shop there, union's chairman Eugene Sadovsky told RIA Novosti.

"Employees of the store committed a vile act against a pensioner, who is a survivor of WWII's Leningrad siege, to boot. An elderly woman could really forget to pay for the butter due to memory problems," he added.