Thefts by children continue at weddings in Mumbai

Yet another case of a theft at a marriage ceremoniy came to light when a bag containing valuables was stolen from a venue at Divya Sagar lawn near Mahananda Dairy on Western Express Highway.   

So far, at least six cases of stealing by a gang of children have been reported. Three girls between nine and eleven years of age have already been held and they are now at the children’s remand home in Dongri.    

The latest case involved the recent marriage ceremony of one Sayed Asif, an employee of British Gas Company. Sayed Mushtaq Ali, father of the groom, said the incident happened around 10.30pm when his wife Sayed Sultana realised that someone had spilled ice-cream on her dress.  

“She washed it and returned,”  said Ali. But 10 minutes later, she was told by a waitress that her dress was stained. “This time the ice-cream was thrown in large quantity on her clothes,” said another relative.  

Sultana rushed to the changing room. While entering, she saw a boy peeping through the curtains.  “She shouted at him and went ahead with cleaning her dress after keeping her bag on the side,” added Mushtaq. 

“Minutes later, I saw that my bag was not there. The child too went missing,” said Sultana, in her statement to the police. The bag contained cash and valuables worth Rs1.25 lakh. 

“We are questioning some people in the case,” said police inspector A Naik of Goregaon (East) police station.