Last year February, on returning home I was greeted by a concrete maw. On inspection I discovered that the 'brass-slot' fitting on my letter box was nicked by some bastard. The letter box is built into the wall in front of my house and the brass-slot assembly was fixed onto a black marble slab accommodated in a recess on the outside of the wall. So if you came to drop a letter you saw a brass plate with a slot and the word 'LETTERS' embossed on it. The whole brass plate was unceremoniously ripped off the wall.
Couple of evenings later on a walk, I found more concrete maws all around my neighbourhood. Talking to one of those effected, I learned that brass fittings like these slots and taps are the hot property amongst petty thieves in the city. You can buy a peg of brandy or a can of industrial glue for the money you get in a brass tap exchange at the scrap-yard. As we were discussing various thefts, we heard a commotion. One of the residents a few houses away had managed to catch one of the thieves red-handed - a kid about 13 years old. By the time we ran to them, the kid bit the guys hand and escaped. Smart kid. I hate smart kids.
This year in march another thief hit my house. He made of with a tap from the terrace. I noticed it only when I ran out of water. I had only filled the tank up that very morning! Got the pipe capped promptly. So what next? Yesterday it was raining heavily. With the noise as a cover these guys manage to thieve some pipes & fittings from my neighbours terrace. If these fucks had been a bit enterprising they could've swiped the house clean as the neighbours were at their relatives in another part of B'lore. One of my pipes was out of place.
Scenario: You hear some noise & rush onto the terrace to see what is happening there. You see a chap frantically trying to extract a brass tap. In the spur of the moment, you bum-rush the fool off the terrace. He is splattered on the ground.
Question: Do you get off murder for protecting one's property?
or
Do you do time for murder?
7 comments:
Hahaha! Not murder...manslaughter i suppose.. since the intent cannot be proved
Hmm. Didn't know petty larceny is so common in Bangalore. In the small town I grew up, it was quite safe. Don't know what the law is. You do have some rights to protect your property, so I am not sure how this goes.
I dont know about India, but in the USA, the price of copper has gotten so high that thieves are making off with powerlines, phone lines for the scrap value. To buy drugs, of course. Every once in a while one gets fried cutting down transmission lines. They have ven stolen the copper waterlines from under houses during daylight!
Blog On!
lol :)
i guess a lot would also depend on how you bum rush... i mean if u dont push him over and he just falls over while trying to escape...
encounter kar do ;)
think gautam already answered this one ?
uuhh !!
To quote Joey - You dont do the crime if you cant do the time ;)
Dont look at me - I got no clue as to the working of the infamous Joey Tribbiani mind!
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