Taiwan derides police for DNA tests over ‘theft’ of drink

A STUDENT in Taiwan has been charged with theft after her roommate asked police to carry out costly DNA tests to find out who had taken a yogurt drink worth £1.50 out of the fridge at their university accommodation.

The student who was charged has not been named, but lived with five other women all studying at the Chinese Cultural University in Taipei, Taiwan.

The police investigation and the student who filed the complaint have been derided by the Taiwanese public, some of whom objected to the waste of taxpayer-funded DNA tests on the six students, which cost around £76 each.

According to a local broadcaster, she returned home last month to find that her yogurt drink had been consumed without her permission and the empty bottle left in the bin.

She confronted her housemates, but when nobody owned up she took the bottle to the police and asked them to open a formal investigation. After police could not find fingerprints, the student persisted and asked them to use DNA forensics instead.