Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Chain snatched

It was 10:30am on a normal working day in Bangalore. My aunt was walking down the lonely residential street on which stands her house. A guy came walking opposite to her and within a second pulled her "mangal sutra" away. Before my aunt to could turn he had covered some distance. As a usual response, my aunt shouted "Thief!! Thief!!" (In Kannada). A guy in "Suzuki Samurai" came driving towards her. For a second he seemed to chase the robber, but he stopped next to the thief to help the thief get onto the bike. Both drove away. 45gms of gold was lost in less than 45secs. A small wound was left on the neck area.

Totally dumbstruck, she walked back to the house and called her neighbor. Both of them together went to the nearby police station and lodged a complaint. The police assured her that the gold will be given to her either as the "mangal sutra" or as a lump. Police have also increased the patrolling in the area after a few more of such chain snatching event.

It was 6:30pm, when she received a phone call from the police. They said that they have a thief caught and wanted her to come and recognize him. A new dilemma! Firstly she was not sure of the face of the guy and secondly she was afraid to testify fearing some revenge action. So she decided not to go to the police station.

This was a great discussion in our family circles and I have collected the suggestions from those meetings.
1. Avoid wearing gold chains (as if it's not obvious). As a corollary - Wear duplicate chains if you really want to.
2. Cover the neck portion with your saree or dupatta.
3. If you are wearing a blouse and saree, put the chain in-between the hooks of the blouse. Even if the chain is pulled, there is a chance that it breaks and stays with you.
4. Even if you loose something like this, please search the spot where the incident happened. According to police, many times there could be some piece dropped there.
5. Please also check the dress you are wearing. There could be some cut piece in the dress itself (especially if it's a saree).

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