Kurtas with pockets, ditching gold: How victims have coped

NEW DELHI: Kamla Bharti has a new feature added to all her kurtas. She got her tailor to stitch side pockets in each one of them. The 55-year-old homemaker is neither trying to make a fashion statement nor is she alone in doing this.

“When I step out, I feel safer if I am not carrying my cell phone and purse in my hands. I know many other women who have begun wearing kurtas with pockets,” Bharti said.

Bharti said she has been traumatised ever since she was involved in a violent snatching incident in west Delhi’s Uttam Nagar on February 15 last year, when a man left her with a torn earlobe while pulling her gold earring. She has never worn gold again after that, not even to weddings.

Kurtas with pockets is just one of many lifestyle changes Bharti and other snatching victims of Delhi have made to their lives after being targeted.

Over the last five years, the national capital has seen 36 incidents of snatching and robberies being reported to the police every day on an average. In many of these cases, motorcycle-borne snatchers have struck rather violently, leaving their victims injured, maimed or even dead.

Their victims chose to respond to these crimes by exercising extreme caution, many of them changing their lifestyles to avoid being targeted again.

“We have stopped going out to buy vegetables. Instead, we order them online. It helps us stay safe,” said Kamla Bharti’s husband, OP Bharti. “My wife was not the only victim. There is a snatching incident every other week in our neighbourhood in Vikaspuri,” added OP Bharti, a lawyer.

In east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar, 61-year-old Maya Yadav has let go of her smartphone and instead settled for a basic one. “The new phone costs less than ₹1,000. I believe snatchers won’t target such phones,” said Yadav, a retired government official.

On the night of July 2, Maya was dragged on the road while trying to save her handbag from two motorcycle-borne snatchers.

“The incident killed my confidence. I avoid stepping out of home. I have developed a phobia of people riding motorcycles and scooters,” said Maya, who had struggled to get a robbery case registered against the culprits. It was only after media reports that the police converted the theft case that they had registered into a robbery one.

“I have to persuade her to come out for walks with me. She is always looking over her shoulders. She won’t carry her handbag with her, so I keep her cash and cards while going out,” said Yadav’s husband, Lal Kishan, a retired Army man.

Rajat Mitra, a clinical psychologist, said that Delhi’s snatchers have frightened their victims to extreme levels. “It is leading to paranoia in the victims. They have begun seeing the environment from a scared point of view,” said Mitra.

But Mitra also took a positive out of it. “This fear is also giving rise to an element of intuition. Many of these victims are picking cues from these incidents and utilizing it to protect themselves,” he said.

One such victim is Rashi Sharma, 22, who doesn’t hesitate to question any man that she suspects of following her. “My questioning has left many men uncomfortable, but this habit is a definite weapon against potential snatchers,” said Sharma.

In January 2017, Sharma, a college-level hockey player, and her two friends were rewarded by the police for taking on snatchers with hockey sticks in west Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh.

But a series of snatching with her relatives and friends since then has turned her cautious. “When I travel by an auto-rickshaw, I clutch on firmly to my handbag and tie its belt around my hand. I don’t message anyone when I am outside and I answer phone calls using a Bluetooth device,” she said.

Sharma, who recently got married, has fought off her urge to wear gold jewellery too.

Ram Sagar, who is into printing business, looks around first and then reaches for his phone if it rings while he is out on the road. “I hold the phone tightly while answering calls. Initially, this drill seemed awkward, but I am now used to it,” said Sagar.

Sagar has been extra cautious since February 4 when his wife Poonam was left with a torn earlobe in Madhu Vihar after snatchers targeted her.

Delhi police officers say snatching cases are reducing as they have adopted many measures to deal with the menace. Deputy commissioner of police(central) MS Randhawa, who is the spokesperson for the city police, said prevention of crime, particularly street crime, has been their priority. The officer said increased visibility of police on streets and regular checking of two-wheelers by local police has also led to the arrest of many criminals indulging in street crimes.

“There is surveillance of known criminals. We focus on integrated patrolling with traffic police and PCR vans. We have identified dark spots and a detailed analysis of time, place and modus operandi of crimes was done. Night patrolling was reorganized and cycle patrolling introduced for tighter checks,” Randhawa said.