In a day and age when the negative power of surveillance and social media is being felt in countries across the world, a Colombo 5 based boutique gift shop named ‘Isle of Artisans’ has publicly shamed a customer who left without paying for an item.

In a post on Instagram, Isle of Artisans posted two video closeups of the woman taken from security footage, which shows her browsing items in an abstract manner.

It is very clear in the video that there was no premeditation. The woman does not sneak the item into her purse, or leave in a hurry after picking up the item. In fact, the video shows her browsing the aisles with the item in hand. As Isle of Artisans themselves have pointed out, it is quite possible the woman left without realizing she had it.

Publicly shaming the woman however, seems a case of digital overreach. In the videos published by Isle of Artisans the woman's face is not covered - in fact her identity is left bare. Isle of Artisans has publicly asked people to help identify the woman. It is not even clear how expensive the item that is taken was.

Give that Isle of Artisans is a Colombo 5 based shop catering to the more affluent, it is sad they would go to these lengths to track down a possible offender. Making a police complaint and a polite inquiry into the incident - or even writing off the loss - would be a far better way to handle this than to shame a woman in public.