Paradip: Children’s attraction towards electronic gadgets can be considered as a normal psychological reaction. But committing crime for it sets an unpleasant precedent. In one such case, a 9-year-old boy committed theft in his house to buy a smartphone to play online games in the port town.
According to sources, the boy of Badapadia in the town stole gold ornaments worth over Rs 3 lakh and Rs 13,000 in cash from his house reportedly under the influence of his friends. One of his friends gave the ornaments to his mother who mortgaged a part of those in a bank and sold the rest to a goldsmith. All his friends are older than the boy, according to a TNIE report.
The father of the boy, who is a Class VI student, is a snack vendor in the town. Following the incident, the boy’s father has filed a complaint at Paradeep Model police station stating that his son being a minor did not realise the seriousness of the act done by him as he was influenced by his friends, one of whom is 19 years old.
Meanwhile, police have recovered the stolen ornaments and launched further investigation.
