Panty Pinchers, News - City - Kolkata Mirror,Kolkata Mirror

By Anisha Ghosh

Posted On Thursday, April 09, 2009 at 07:40:01 PM

Rag pickers are mostly young and steal lingerie in the early hours of the morning when residents are asleep

Kolkata: S Roy still can’t believe that someone could think of stealing the branded underwear that she had hung out to dry on the balcony of her upscale New Town apartment.

“I’d washed my clothes and gone out for an overnight trip with friends. When I came back, all my panties were gone, but the rest of my clothes were there!” said the 20-something professional, who first thought that it was boys playing a prank.

A quick chat with her 30-something neighbour revealed that it had nothing to do with the boys and that some other women in her block also faced the same problem.

The incidents are not limited to New Town. “It’s so disgusting,” complained S Roychowdhury a resident of Lake Town.

Roychowdhury has to be extra careful when hanging underwear to dry. “I wake up in the mornings to find that only my undergarments are stolen. Why would anyone want to steal underwear and not take anything else?” she asked.

An investigation by Kolkata Mirror revealed that the culprits are rag pickers. Kolkata Mirror watched some rag pickers actually steal undergarments. The rag pickers are mostly young and steal lingerie around 4 am to 5 am when residents are asleep. This makes it very difficult for people to identify them.

“Most of the lingerie is stolen when we are asleep so it makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly when the rag pickers come in,” said Ratna Ghosh, also from Lake Town.

Ghosh first suspected that rag pickers were responsible when she had woken up early and stepped out into her garden for some fresh air last week.


These undergarments are being sold for a steady supply of drugs

“I saw a long stick lying in my garden and only one of my undergarments missing. I suppose that the thief wanted to steal more but dropped the stick by mistake when he realised that someone was awake in the house,” she recalled.

The women agree that it is difficult to find out whether it individual rag pickers or a gang is responsible for it. But what they all find confusing is why anyone would want to steal underwear.

City-based psychologist Dr Amarnath Mallick may be able to clear their confusion. “From my experience, most people in professions like rag picking are there because of addictions such as drugs like heroin and need the money to support their addiction,” revealed Dr Mallick.

According to Mallick, it is simply easier to steal underwear rather than clothes. “Once these people start doing such things like stealing undergarments it becomes impossible for them to stop. They need money to supply drugs for their addiction so they commit petty crimes such as this one.”

Municipal officials declined to be named, but claimed that they were not aware of such incidents. “Whoever sees any person stealing undergarments should beat the thief as it is not possible for us to be there all the time,” said a senior official at South Dum Dum Municipality, on condition of anonymity.

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