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HERE’S HOW THE BENGALURU UNDERWEAR THIEF WHO STRUCK MAHARANI COLLEGE WOMEN’S HOSTEL WAS NABBED

The lingerie thief of Maharani College has finally been caught; an employee of Bangalore Turf Club, he lived adjacent to the college. Police found a trunk full of underwear in his shed

A 35-year-old man who was stealing lingerie from the women’s hostel at Maharani’s College was arrested by the High Grounds police on Wednesday after a CCTV footage that caught him in the act was widely circulated in the media. He will be in police custody for three days, and will have to make one more visit to the hostel premises – this time, not to steal innerwear but for the police to reconstruct the scene from his last visit so as to chargesheet him.
It took six months for the police to take this man seriously, and only after the media highlighted the issue on Monday. This happened after the Expert Committee of Preventing Sexual Violence against Women and Children visited the college and students told the committee about the pervert who breaks into the hostel campus and steals innerwear while walking around naked.
HOW HE WAS CAUGHT

The High Grounds police, who took up the case, nabbed him within 48 hours of the report coming out. They found out that he was entering the premises by scaling the wall between Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) and the college hostel. They immediately sensed that the man must be someone who had access into BTC as the club had tight security.

A team formed to nab the guy learnt that there were more than 700 employees staying inside the premises in sheds built for them. The police verified the photos of the employees with the management and shortlisted around 50-60 individuals who looked like the man from the CCTV footage.

While questioning these persons, they found the behaviour of one of them odd. Others told the police that this man would disappear sometimes at midnight.

But what really pinned him down from the footage were his two hair whorls – a clear identifying feature. Eventually, he was identified as Abu Taleem.

Abu Taleem is a native of Kishanganj district of Bihar. He came to the city 10 years ago and worked at BTC’s stable. He has a wife and two children who live in Bihar.

Taleem had been staying with other labourers in a shed.
WHAT HE TOLD COPS

Once in custody, Taleem confessed to the police that he was indeed routinely scaling the wall, walking around naked and stealing undergarments. He would wear these stolen clothes for a few days and then discard them before stealing again.

The police also found out that he was a peeping tom and sometimes went into residential areas looking for women.

When police questioned him on carrying a knife or bottle, he said he had never carried a weapon. According to the police, Taleem had not physically harmed anyone, nor had he carried any weapons.
HOW HE MOVED

Taleem would wait for other labourers to go to sleep before heading out. He would powder his face heavily to avoid being recognised and also oil his arms to make escape easier in case he was caught. He had left a rope dangling on the wall to make scaling the wall easier. Once inside the premises, he would take off his regular clothes and wear the stolen undergarments and go looking for women.

When the cops got in touch with his family, they found out that he was known to cross-dress and was fond of wearing his wife’s inner garments too. They found a trunk full of stolen lingerie at his residence here.
WORK TO BE DONE

The challenge before the police in the next three days would be reconstruct his actions and recover a few of the stolen undergarments he had thrown on the roadside. An investigating officer said, “We have sufficient innerwear to prove he had stolen them. So this won’t be a problem. The women staying at the hostel have to come forward and identify their garments and give a statement before the police and also appear in court as witness and give their statement.”
GIRLS TO IDENTIFY

According to the police, four women have agreed to give their statements. Deputy Commissioner of Police (central) Chandragupta said: “We will try talking to the women staying at the hostel and convince them to come forward and identify their innerwear.”

Taleem has been booked under five sections of the Indian Penal Code including for sexual harassment, obscene acts, trespassing and theft.

STUDENTS HAPPY

Meanwhile, students from the college were happy that the pervert was finally behind bars. A case had been registered in September 2016 against the man, but it was only now that the arrest was made.

Suharika S, who stays at the hostel, said: “Such people shouldn’t be let out because there is a possibility they might get involved in bigger crimes. Today, he is stealing our clothes, but tomorrow, he might do a bigger crime.”