Australian man accuses Nepali elderly couple of stealing from Kmart

Brisbane, Australia, October 2, 2026 — An Australian man has drawn criticism after confronting a Nepali elderly couple outside a Kmart store and accusing them of stealing an item after noticing that an anti-theft security tag was still attached to its packaging.

The man, identified as Trent Carter, recorded the confrontation and shared the video on Instagram. The elderly couple, originally from Surkhet, Nepal, can be seen sitting outside Kmart with a packaged item when Carter approaches them and questions whether they had stolen it.

The couple had travelled to Brisbane about 15 days earlier to visit their son and daughter-in-law. According to the family, they had gone to Kmart for shopping together with their daughter-in-law and grandson when the incident occurred.

“Hey, you stole that? You stole it? You’re a stealer? You steal it,” Carter says in the video while pointing at the security tag attached to the box.

The elderly couple appear confused during the exchange and have difficulty responding to his questions.

Carter said in the caption accompanying the video that he noticed something unusual while walking past the couple and believed they had just left Kmart with the item.

The video later circulated widely on social media, prompting criticism of Carter for confronting the elderly couple before establishing whether the item had actually been stolen.

Witness says Nepali couple had paid for the item

The accusation was challenged by a woman identified as Sara Gadhwal, who said she was at the store as a customer and saw the couple pay for the item at the register.

According to Gadhwal, the couple had legitimately purchased the item but did not realise that the security tag or sticker had not been removed before they left the store.

“They did not steal anything. I was present there as a customer and saw them paying for the item at the register,” she wrote in a comment that was later widely shared online.