Petty thief nabbed!

I had expressed the loss of many items from my garden in another thread a few days ago. After that I lost even more. But I knew that this fella would be back to take slightly bigger things. The smaller ones had slowly vanished. He had given a clue. He had lifted a GI Pipe (4 ft.) that I had used as a support to a small steel gate used as a trellis and kept that pipe elsewhere to be taken the coming morning. I noticed it in my usual rounds. He had thought that nobody notices it.

So, I knew he would be back soon, because the temptations of stealing 'easily' from this place would be too hard to resist. His best time according to me (as my uncle had also seen this fella once and the maid-servant had noticed the stolen things near the compound - but he had taken before she could come and inform us) was at dawn.

Yesterday, I was determined to watch out. I was up by 5 in the morning. Went to the rooms upstairs where the view to the possible places of his entry/exit would be visible (behind my house and the one side - which is unfortunately on the opposite side of my main garden where his 'attractive' things lay). Light filled the sky at around half past five. A few people started their morning walks, but not on the street visible from the window on top. I was there, my DW joined me and so we had four eyes on the prowl. A little while later, a boy in a maroon T-shirt, barefooted (as the foot-print left behind in my soil was that), came to our view. His movement was not like the normal person who takes one direction. He kept looking towards our house. He went a little way ahead to see if somebody was there in the front of our house. He came back and came near the compound and lifted an iron thing (I had kept in my garden) which my DW noticed and called my attention (I was at the other window). "He's the one" she called. I saw it too. I rushed down and went to the street from the opposite direction of his expected one. I did not notice anyone! I came back in the same direction and there he was, sans that thing, pretending to pluck some flowers from a road-side plant near a house. That was at the end of a narrow, lonely lane. Now, I was within 15 feet, of this fella. I pretended to be walking by, but suddenly I began my chase to which he was taken aback and started to run (in the direction of his home .... which I later learnt to be just 100 yards away!). My chase was just 50 yards and this FIFTEEN YEAR OLD BOY was no match for this OLD CHASER. I caught his hand and he showed no resistance! I wonder why! Just a few feet before I caught him, I called "stop thief" to a coulple of passers by, but to no avail. I dragged him, after twisting his arms to his back and my soil-digging-hardened hands was like a vice. By that time, a couple of people had gathered to see the drama. I asked him, despite his protests, to take him to the place where he had hid that item. He knew he had been caught, red-handed. There in another lonely premises, besides a compound wall, he had hid that thing in that narrow lane. I made my uncle who had come there by then, take that and show it to the few more people who had gathered. Now I dragged him to my front gate from this place, all the way round the street. A few more, at least 20 passers-by had gathered for the early-morning drama. I did not beat him, but others had a free hit at this boy. Somehow, I don't know how or by whom, his (widowed) mother was summoned to the spot. She was upset. She begged me to leave him alone.

Have to go now for a break.. will be back in a couple of hours.

ummmm - are you sure it was him? a curious boy would pick up something, set it down, and walk on............. Just PLEASE be sure it was him, and that he has your stolen items. Accusing an innocent person an be very detrimental on their mental health and future at such a young age.

I'm back to continue the story Karrie. There is more!

He confessed having stolen the items in front of the people and his surprised mother. But he was not confessing that he had done it alone!

There is an old cycle mechanic who works by the street opposite my house and he keeps his tool-trunk in my house to avoid carrying each time and we have agreed to keep his luggage here. He had seen last week or so, 2-3 boys including this fella in our premises and he was under the impression that they belonged to us. Now, this mechanic was there in the crowd and identified this thief, who was also seen in the premises by my aunt sometime ago under the pretext of looking for some fallen mangoes underneath the tree, where I had kept (dumped, is the better word!) my 'precious odd items' that interested this chap. So, that confirmed that it was he, along with an accomplice in the neighbouring locality, who were involved in stealing things from houses. Few of them in the crowd wanted me to hit that boy. My maid-servant too gave him a blow or two. A few wanted to hand him over to the police and the other few who were likely from his area wanted me to let him scot-free. All this, the mother witnessed, holding my hand, which was all the time been gripping the thief's hands, begging pardon. But I would not budge. Both mother and son were in tears and both feared the police and the mother was so upset when her son was caught in the nasty and shameful act in front of her neighbours. I knew the thief was from a very poor family and I was right. He could not even afford the chappals, leave alone square meals. His father had died. Only the mother and son were left behind with nothing. Now, look at the situation! This fella is clandestinely getting the money from this 'business'. No one asked what he did with the money he got after selling the pieces at the junk-shop (There are a few who do this business, usually to recycle iron, steel and aluminium, a place called 'Gujri'), or how much he got. But I was the loser. His innocent mother's respect was put in jeopardy by this son of hers. It appears that she gets meagre sums of money to hand-prepare the incense sticks at home for a factory. It was a pathetic sight.

I wanted him to take us to his 18-year old accomplice but dropped the idea.

In the meantime, I had decided to call the mobile police and hand him over. I asked my cousin to call and within 5 minutes, the Police arrived to the spot, inquired about the incident and took the boy to custody. We went in the vehicle to the Police Station and lodged an unofficial complaint (I did not want to get entangled in the wicked network of the police and the politicians - that is infamous here, but keep a respectable distance from complicatons). I softly told the police on duty not to thrash him hard since I had some soft corner for the pathetic situation they were in. I wanted him to sent off after a stiff warning. Chances of getting my things back was not bright. Neither the effort to recover the things nor were they so very valuable to be worthy of the effort. So, I did not put pressure on this. Lost is lost, I said to myself. I returned home and had to go to the cricket match that day.

While I was away, there were calls from the Station as well as a local politician (who was making a personal visit) asking me to compromise with the boy. Apparently, the mother had approached him for release. My DW answered him politely that it will only be a warning to the 'budding thief'. So, my cousin had answered the other call from the station and asked him not to be thrashed. The boy had confessed not to do this again (who is to be believed?).

Later last evening, I noticed behind the house, at the foot of the compound, some raised earth and a couple of huge boulders that they used to climb the high wall and enter my premises (even during afternoon time when things are a bit dull) through the out-house compound. (I removed this with the help of the tenant of the out-house. They were surprised about the incident and vowed to be more alert henceforth. (A couple of pairs of new footwear had been stolen from theirs). This boy had been using that route for more than two weeks without being spotted!) But I could not notice his route while I was on the prowl upstairs yesterday. He had done his job but was caught outside. I was in pyjamas and was chasing this rascal at dawn. I forgot to tally his footprint, after all.

Now, most of my plant-support materials made of construction steel and the other similar things made their entry into my home, to avoid being robbed. What a mess it is when the pipes and those odd things are lain together! I thought of having a counselling session with the mother and the thief-son, but I was opposed by my DW. Now, the accomplice too will shun away (hopefully) from this place after learning of his friend being caught. I hope such things wont happen here again. It is one of those things everyone of us hates to be at the 'receiving end'. It was my debut in 'thief-nabbing'. It was not without some help from my 'Scotland Yard Instincts'! I hate strangers from being encouraged to enter into the premises, at will or otherwise. I know he will be released without a scar, but I only pray that he wont resort to such nasty acts again and that he will reform himself to maintain self-respect with his mother. He should select better friends. That is the key. I'm sorry if my early morning adventure has bored you and been described in way too many words. I just thought of sharing what all happened, scene by scene.

oh Dinu, it didn't bore me. I'm so glad you caught him and handled it the way you did. His mother will probably make very sure he doesn't bother you again. I do wish that you could find and warn the older friend though. But he will know that people around are watching for him and I think he might find a different source for his activities now. I hope so.
I'm glad no one was hurt (especially you, he could have had a weapon!) and that the crime is solved. And I hope you find replacements for the pieces that they took from you.
big hugs......

Thank you Bonnie (hope I got your name right!). Glad to hear that my manner of expression was not boring.

Compassion got the better of us, luckily and it will be to our advantage that there will be no antagonization from his 'gang' or from his neighbourhood. They are not that daring (at least now) to carry weapons, leave alone using them on persons. But who knows, they may weild one later, driven by poverty. Hope it does not turn out that way. I am pondering over to replace the iron plant supports with wooden equivalents. But termites are a menace. Have to devise termite and weather proof shoes for them if I have to bury them in the ground. Now that he has been recognized as a 'thief', it will play on his mind, hopefully, for his betterment, and not a nuisance to society.

Your story was very interesting, Dinu, and I think you handled it well. A lesson taught, but no scars, as you say. Perhaps if you carried it one step further and had the boy work for you until the value of the stolen property, not recovered, was satisfied? He could perhaps learn something about gardening or handywork that would allow him to find a way to contribute to his mother's meager income. Sometimes it is amazing to see someone who is given the opportunity rise to meet the challange. Also, an added benefit would be to keep him busy and out of the company of his bad companions. Many of the great men here in America tell this same story...beginning in great poverty and given the chance to rise above it.
Pati

I found your story interesting too, Dinu. I hope the young boy will be able to find some other outlets and will not return to thieving.

Only had one break-in in my garden shed. They were after lawn mowers. But they found out I have an electric mower, and would not bother to steal it! LOL! Just another reason to go with electric mowers instead of gas.

I agreee with tiG. No one was hurt and hopefully you will no longer lose any of your things. It dosnt matter that they had no high value on the market, they had value to you for your home.
I hope the acomplice decides to stay away too. You did good. Maybe after all this and his mother knowing about it he wont do anything like this again and will work on bettering himself. One can only hope.

I'm so glad you caught your thief, Dinu! Your heart must have been racing at the sight of him and from the chase. I agree with Pati: having him work off his thefts is only fair. Let him do some digging for your pond expansion (you know you'll want a bigger pond...LOL), water your plants, etc. In working with you, perhaps he will find a mentor.

Good for you Dinu! I hope word gets round that your garden is strictly out of bounds for petty thieves!

You did a good thing in not punishing him more....and I like Patti's suggestion very much...it would be very benificial to him to "pay back" some of his crimes. Jo

Oh Good! I do feel very badly for his mother - she must have been just mortified, ashamed, humiliated.......

But I am glad you handled it the way you did. I think when children suffer the consequences, knowing it could be worse, they are given an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and not behave that way anymore.

I was a little taken back when you said "mobile police" - lol! I thought you were from Indiana - then I saw the zone and thought NO WAY is Indiana a zone 10a, lol! So I typed "Mysore, IN" in a search engine, and came up with India. Makes much more sense to me now.

Glad you settled the problem in a dignified and tasteful manner. Kudos to you Dinu!

Karrie

p.s. your story didn't bore me at all - I found it quite interesting. We've had things stolen from our yards here as well. I'd love to find out who stole our "extension" cord for our outdoor Christmas lights last year, 2 days before Christmas! (not much $ value, just irks you when someone is messing with your belongings and invading your space).

Sorry it happened Dinu, but in no way was it boring on this end. Made for a good read.

With such different cultures, it's hard to say what are the right or wrong things. It sounds like your police can be a bit brutal (ours can too, but it's rare and definately not in cases like this). Here, I would have turned him over and pressed charges. After pressing charges, I'd have an opportunity as the victim to work out a settlement, which probably would have involved community service or working it off for our business. I don't believe in over punishing, but I definately believe in strongly discouraging certain behaviour.

Chris

Glad that no one yet got bored by reading my story! LOL. Thanks anyway.

Why counseling was shelved was because, it is difficult to trust people from such backgrounds. They don't take in the right spirit (being illiterates to some extent) and they are more under pressure from their own ilk and neighbours rather than listen to the good things. That's why it is said that "society environment" plays an important role.

If I had hinted the Police to thrash him good, they would have gladly done. But I never wanted it, because the boy was pleading with me not to hand over to them. I knew from his tone that he was really afraid of it.

I had read a story in Reader's Digest sometime ago. It was about a person actually sponsoring a poor boy. A man notices a boy in trouble. He asks him about the problem. The boy wants to study but can't afford, so he is working for someone for a meager wage. So, he sponsors him for the fees and books under a condition that his name should not be disclosed to anyone. (I think he had approached the School Teacher too with that condition, not sure). When the boy asks him how to repay, he says that he SHOULD return every cent after he starts earning, which the grown up boy later does. He studied well, got a job and repaid as promised. The story actually makes one get a lump in the throat with emotion. I wanted to emulate this but the situation here is slightly different.

Karrie
Glad you noticed that I'm from India and not Indiana. IYou are not the first person to get 'confused'. I think Dave has to do something about it only because of the similar first two letters "IN". Also notice that names of countries are listed with "(..)". The U.S state names don't have the "()". Yes, the mobile police are in vogue of late in our city too. They are doing a good job, inspite of the fact that this dept., I sadly say, is one of the most corrupt one can imagine. Priorities are different for them.

Patischell
It is a good suggestion to make the boy work until the "level of loss" is reached. It vaguely came to my mind but again, trust is a factor which hangs on a very thin thread, esp. with strangers here. For that, one has to stand every minute in front of them even if they, by chance, agree to repay with labour. It's not suitable in this case. I plan to visit the place where he might have sold off the items and see if I can buy them back, at least some of them. I'm not too sure if I will do it, yet. But this is a slight possibility. Taking police help in this is not worthy due to various reasons.

I don't get this "feel moved" feeling often.

I felt it after reading this.

My heart is pouring out for that boy's mother. Bless her heart - she needs support more than any of us do. She needs hugs! (not to mention money to rebuild her life).

I sulk sometimes thinking my life sucks, but when I hear true stories like this it really puts me back into perspective.

I HAVE a support system. That poor woman doesn't.

But she can at least have our prayers. I am praying for her now.

I think this would make a lovely little film!
Forget Bollywood, this is the stuff of real Indian cinema...

Ive always enjoyed your threads Dinu and no this was not boring. I do feel sorry for his mother but you did a great job in the way you handled this whole situation.
I do keep waiting to see more pics from you tho, LOL.

cinemike
BTW, have you seen any Indian films - popularly called Bollywood, not Hollywood? For the connoiseur, I'm afraid, the present generation films are never liked because they lack any useful stuff but are centring on vulgarity! Hardly 1% is of the quality that gets a 'real hit'. The entire scenario of the Cinema has changed (for bad).

Dravencat
Thanks for the appreciation of whatever you like about me or my threads. I have a roll of film in my camera and a few more are waiting to be exposed. So I will have to depend on the prints and later scanning in the absence of my friend's digital camera that I used to borrow. Now his camera has gone bad and he is trying to get it rectified. That's the reason why I'm unable to post pictures of late. And I have to depend on describing through words.

BRING THEM ON! :)

I run a cinema that shows both Bollywood and classical Indian films... (as well as films from everywhere else in the film-producing world). The story you mention is not unlike certain incidents that have happened in the films of Satyajit Ray (now sadly deceased).

I'm not much of a cinema-goer, but I love to listen to the old Hindi film songs that are really pleasing to listen. Whereas the present day songs are not even worth lending the ear - they are mostly "noise"! Now I am able to guess your why is your screen-name is like that. What do you mean by "run cinema"? Yes, S.Ray was a wonderful Director. My collection of songs are selected and have about 60 cassettes (still not entered the CD era!). The old Kannada film songs too are part of my collection and passion to listen, Kannada being my mother tongue. Most of the old songs were usually meaningful with wisdom sans vulgarity. Which is your favourite, Cinemike?

I am employed to operate the cinema, including choose the films.

My interest is not specifically Indian films, and, to be honest, I don't take particular interest in the songs (not speaking Hindi, I haven't the foggiest idea of what they are about!). :o)

Where? In a theatre? Yes, I can understand, Cinemike. I presume you are British and how in the world can you know Hindi? But I can tell you that most of the older songs are real melodies, pleasing to the ear and mostly they were classical-music-based. I'm sure you have heard the names like Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh and Mohammad Rafi who have sung thousands of such melodies.

'My' cinema is in a converted lecture theatre in the local university. I am a university employee.

I might just recognise the songs of the people you mention, but I regret I have not heard of them.

I am sorry if I gave the impression of knowing much about Indian culture. I only know what the films of Satyajit Ray has taught me and what my father, who was stationed in India for three years during the war, told me.