Beware of child pickpockets
The other day while I was riding down the main road from Ibrahimpur to Mirpur 14 on my motorbike in the evening, I noticed a very young boy, probably below 10 years of age, clinging behind a running rickshaw ahead of me. This type of scene is very common, so I didn't pay much attention to it. When I was about to cross that rickshaw, I noticed there was a woman on the rickshaw and the boy suddenly put something on the back of her head and swiftly opened the zipper of her handbag. It happened so fast that I was puzzled. And as soon as I realised that he was a pickpocket, I yelled to draw the lady's attention and tried to catch the kid. But I failed as he quickly ran away.
What troubles me is, even if I could capture the little thief, what would I do with him? He was too little to be handed over to the police. Assaulting him wouldn't have been a civic thing to do either. Should I then have tried to calmly explain it to him that what he did was wrong? I doubt if such persuasion would stop him from doing this again. I guess we have no choice but to be careful about our belongings when we ride in public transports.
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