Hyderabad: Fell on hard times, pushed into crime

Hyderabad: Ramanamma, Veerabha-drappa and Lakshman Narayan Mudhang aka Bhayya, who is the leader of the robbery gang involved in the Muthoot heist at RC Puram in December 2016, had turned into criminals for different reasons. Ramanamma had been a victim of human trafficking after her second husband left her, while Veerabhadrappa had got involved to make money for his daughter’s treatment and children’s education. The police who interrogated these offenders found that though they were involved in criminal activities, they had a lot of concern for their respective families. 

DCP Madhapur Vishwaprasad, who had supervised the cases of Veerabhardrappa and Lakshman, said that each person has their own needs for survival. 

Different people earn a living through different means, but a small category of people make a living by causing a loss to others. "All property offenders fall under this category. Though they may seem to have a valid reason for committing the offences, they are still at fault. However, unlike many other criminals who spend their earnings from disposing stolen property on luxuries, alcohol and women, some of them spend it on their families. Unfortunately, despite being arrested many times, no sense of remorse is noticed in these criminals," he said. 

After Ramanamma’s first husband left her she married another person and gave birth to two children. But after her second husband also left her she had to work very hard to get her children married. Regrettably, she fell into the trap of two women who forced her into prostitution. After she escaped from there, she got into a life of petty crime. 

Meanwhile, her daughter returned to her with her own children after being abandoned by her husband. To provide for the education of her grandchildren Ramanamma continued to commit crimes till she was finally arrested by the Rachakonda police a week ago.

In the case of Veerabhadrappa, his five-year old daughter had been born with health complications and he was forced to borrow vast sums of money to pay for her treatments. However, when he was unable to repay them, he started stealing motorcycles and giving them to the moneylenders in lieu of cash. While riding a bike that he had stolen over five years ago, he was arrested by the police. 

Lakshman was a student in a convent till the intermediary level and therefore had a good command over the English language. But his financial situation compelled him to leave his education, after which he took up odd jobs. 

Since he did not want his children's education to suffer the same way that his did, he ended up in criminal activities. He wishes that one of his sons will clear the NDA exam to become and army officer and the other will become a doctor.