Thief targeting Indian weddings finally captured by police

Female jewellery thief who stole from Asian weddings in India is arrested

A young woman who posed as a guest at Indian weddings in order to gain entry to steal cash and jewels has finally been captured by the police.

S. Shanthi was taken in by Chennai police after a bungled attempt to rob a wedding this week. The 32-year-old had created a cunning plan to infiltrate marriage halls in the country in order to steal gifts of jewellery gold and silver which her husband would then sell.

The thief had been caught on a video recording of a wedding some weeks earlier but had got away. She was finally captured after being caught out by a question from a suspicious guest at a wedding this week.

The mother-of-one would use her family as a front during the robberies. Shanthi would scan wedding venues to discover when the next marriage was taking place. She would then arrive, accompanied by her husband and 7-year-old daughter the day before the wedding and introduce herself to the staff at the venue as a relative of the bride, before asking to look around to ensure everything was in place before the big day.

Shanthi would then use this time to check for CCTV cameras, and exits and entrances so she could ensure all the fine details were taken care of ahead of her planned robbery the next day.

The plan had proved so successful that Shanthi admitted to police she had been stealing from Indian weddings for the past 12 months.

On the day she was caught, Shanthi had introduced herself to the bride as a relative of the groom and proceeded to stay in the suite where the bride was preparing herself. However the mother of the bride became suspicious when she noticed Shanthi’s bulging handbag and her frequent trips to the bathroom and so quizzed her on the name of the groom’s father.

Police were called and large quantities of stolen items were found in Shanthi’s possession. The police are now searching for the thief’s husband.