In Punjab’s increasingly affluent urban and suburban areas, child thieves are not uncommon.
“It’s a constant problem here,” said Jassi Phallewalia, the journalist who broke the Ruby Dhalla purse-snatching story.
“Many times the kids are part of larger organized gangs and they show up at marriage halls and mingle innocently with the guests before running off with someone’s purse.”
Police, too, are familiar with the problem.
“Some operate at an individual level, encouraged by their parents and others are part of gangs operated by adults,” said Gurpreet Singh Bhuller, senior police superintendent for Ludhiana district.
Most are the children of migrant workers from the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, police say. They live well below the poverty line.
Once caught, the children are sent to juvenile detention centres and kept in custody until their court dates or until they are given bail. Many spend months, even years without visits by parents who are too scared to approach the detention system.
Sometimes it’s the frustrated villagers who take the law into their own hands. The Indian media have highlighted several cases where vigilante groups took action against thieves. In one case, a man was tied to a motorcycle and dragged along the road as punishment.
- Sonya Fatah
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