Thief told to do 1-year community work

Mumbai: The Andheri metropolitan magistrate court sentenced a 22-year-old thief one year of community service, wherein she is required to clean a temple and civic school near her Dharavi residence for an hour daily. The sentence was given as per the provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act.

The accused was found guilty of committing theft in a Powai-based household where she worked. The woman had stolen ornaments and cash worth Rs 3.52 lakh from there. Police investigations revealed that she had also furnished a fake Permanent Account Number card for her identification at the time of being hired. In October ‘15, Vaijanti Kamat alias Anita Kale had been hired by Shekhar Verma, a resident of Powai, through an agency to look after his ailing mother round the clock as both he and his wife were working professionals. In December 2015, the couple found that gold ornaments and cash kept in a locked cupboard were missing. Their children informed them that Kamat had gone out on the pretext of getting her clothes stitched. After she failed to return they lodged a complaint with the Powai police.

Investigations revealed that Kamat had furnished the PAN card of another woman. The police managed to nab Kamat through a number she had registered with the recruitment agency that sent her to work at the residence of Verma. Based on the accounts of the witnesses and the police investigation and a request from the accused to take a lenient view as she lived with her parents and a younger brother the magistrate A D Lokhande passed the order, “I have considered the fact that the accused woman is of young age. It is evident that, accused have already remained behind bars since 20/12/2015. Therefore, instead of awarding the punishment prescribed in the act itself I am inclined to tender the benefit of provision of Probation of Offenders Act, to accused…”

Apart from furnishing a bail amount, providing surety and visiting the police station regularly, the magistrate also ordered her community service for a year under section 4 of the Probation of Offenders Act.