Women steal to keep home fires burning

NAGPUR: The woman, in her early twenties, is an alleged thief whom the police sympathise with. More than criminal tendency, it was economic hardship that compelled Meena (name changed) to steal. She had to repay debts she had incurred after her brother was murdered. Meena's brother was the main bread-winner of the family.
On May 20 last year, Meena's brother Rajesh Pal was murdered by Kanojia brothers and another accused. Kanojia's mother was staying at Pal's house and that had angered the brothers. The Kanojias and their friend ended up killing Pal who was protesting the move to take the woman away from his home. The murder had left the Pal's own mother and sister exposed to economic hardships as they did not have the father's support. Kanojias' mother, however, left for her sons' house after the murder.
Pal's sister would try to make the ends meet by pressing clothes. The growing expenses made her borrow money from lenders. Paying off interest had been a burden for the mother-daughter duo. Police said that the women also tried working at other places to make some more money. Still, each day was worse than the previous one.
Police said cash-strapped Meena and her mother seemed to have succumbed to temptation of earning fast money to pay off the debts. There were allegations that the mother-daughter duo had committed thefts in the neighbourhood.
A senior officer of Gittikhadan police station said the police were in dilemma after the complaints were filed. "We had to balance between law and life," he said. "We arrested Meena and also recovered gold from her. She had deposited it at a private bank," said the officer. Police had to struggle before zeroing in on the mother-daughter duo who had left the locality after the allegations surfaced.
Police apparently issued a strict warning to the senior citizen and opted to go slow against her. "The evidence was not strong enough and so we opted to tilt towards humanity rather than jump into legal action. The mother-daughter duo was really struggling after the murder of the only earning member of the family. They were unlikely to even afford a bail amount," said the officer. "Still we had warned the women in no uncertain terms," he added.
It is learnt that police contacted a social worker for paying the bail amount when Meena was produced before the magistrate. Sources in Gittikhadan police station said Meena has since resumed her work of pressing clothes and is trying to make an honest living.
Source http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/