It may appear to be a virtuous act when a thief is found praying before the temple deity, but the reality in this incident, which was caught on camera, is a little different. In the video that has gone viral, a thief is seen praying to the deity before decamping with the donation box and some other valuables from a temple in Madhya Pradesh.
The incident took place on August 5 in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, at around 4 am in the morning. Sukha village under Madhotal police station is home to a centuries-old Laxmi temple, a report in News18 said.
Although the entire incident was captured on CCTV, the thief's face was covered with cloth, making it impossible for police to identify him.
The video of the incident has gone viral on the internet and netizens have given him the moniker of "sanskari thief".
In the video, a shirtless man is seen lifting a curtain to enter the inner sanctum of the temple. After that, he bows before the goddess with folded hands and offers prayers for a few minutes. Perhaps, he was apologising for the crime he was about to commit!
After praying, he grabs three donation boxes from the temple's inner sanctum. He then, slowly and carefully, takes out the donation boxes and disappears from the spot.
This video was posted on Twitter by a user named Vipin. The video invited several comments from social media users, who were amused at the thief's act. One of them said that the robber had captured their hearts with his "sanskar". Another user stated that before stealing, the robber bowed to the goddess to seek her blessing.
The local police has received a complaint from the temple committee and are trying to track and nab the thief. An FIR has been filed in the matter. However, because his face was covered with cloth, it has been challenging to identify the thief.
Earlier, in November 2021, a similar incident had taken place in Maharashtra where a thief was caught on CCTV touching the idol of Lord Hanuman and then fleeing with Rs 1,000 kept in the cash box.