Why do People Commit Larceny?

Last week, my elder child had just left home for work and in a span of about half an hour, I get a call from her, totally upset that her wallet had been picked in the bus. She had no cash to come home, and it can be
anyone's guess what a person in that situation would do instead of weeping. The reason was that she just needed to talk to someone and to her, her mom was the best person at that moment. She had hard cash to
be paid at the grocery with a few other cards that were important. And Sentiments!!!

It was baseless to sit and ponder as to why she got robbed. When I pointed out that may be the pilferer wanted cash urgently to settle some emergency in his house, my dear child burst out, "Does he know that
even we have emergencies?" Now who thinks of all that. I had to appease her, that it could have gone for a good cause, so just forget it. Now why do people go to such depths of crime?

It is immoral & wrong, but some would say that it was a necessary way of life. We ask ourselves why someone would take something that doesn't belong to them. We also ask ourselves how people are able to go on day by day knowing that they have swindled someone or some company of money and profits earned by hard work. Well no one is accountable to that question; there are only things that we can postulate, may be a reason for someone to want to do these things. The first of many reasons is for money.

The second most common reason people commit such a crime is because it is a mania. They can't help themselves and they steal just to get famous. Like, when a young man was caught in the act of stealing an ordinary hen and prosecuted, the first thing asked of him by the Officer was, "Why did you do this?" To which our hero exclaimed, " Because I wanted my small name to come on the front page of the Big leading newspapers all over the town." This type of thief will take anything he can get his hands on because he just does it to see if he can get away. He wants to become a celebrity overnight. A "Murgi - Chor."

Last but not the least the third most common reason that people steal is for subsistence. This type of thief steals things because he needs to survive. Most of the time, thieves take things like clothing for their children
or medicine, and sometimes food. Such people have no conscience. They are in reality impecunious to get what they urgently need at that precise moment. This allows them to steal and not feel guilty about it. They actually believe that they are doing nothing wrong.

Some Steal because they feel entitled to have the things they can’t afford. Many pilferers feel they are entitled to the good things in life. However, they do not understand how to get those things for themselves.

This is one reason stealing is appealing to them. Some steal out of jealousy. They see their friends having certain things that they can not afford and stealing may be the only way they think they could ever have
these things. It is similar to "Keeping up with the Jonesses."

"For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" 1 Timothy 6:10., As read in the Holy Bible. The very poor steal out of poverty and difficult living. The rich corrupt government officials steal in order to gain abundance of life. They are exonerated with the power of their money, as soon as they get an innocent scape-goat to carry the can for them. In private businesses, stealing is not rampant as in government offices. Government pilferers are worse since they stash away the people's money not only in millions but beyond any estimate! Thieves in government do not really fear God. They know the existence of God but still continue committing sins and stealing.

We have kleptomaniacs who are well-to-do people but they love to pick choice items in department stores or rich homes where they are invited as guests, because they are paranoid. I must say they do things in "Real Style!" But government officials who steal the people's money on a large scale know that stealing is a sin and are committing economic sabotage. Yet, they do not feel guilty about it.

India is a country with a vast population living in penury. It is not surprising to see people turning into Misanthropes. The people to be blamed for this is none other than the affluent class of people who have this phobia for accumulating and hoarding just about anything that their eyes feast on. They seldom have the gift of being munificent should any occasion arise. Their behaviour is equivalent to that of the fear of being faced by the wrath of nature all of a sudden with practically no means of anything to survive on. Why do they forget that when they came into this world they came with empty hands and while departing from this world they will be returning empty-handed too!! God does not want to see any 'Refugee Camps up there', I am sure.

It is the society that prepares the crime; while the criminal commits it. As Napolean cites: " The contagion of crime is like that of the plague. Criminals collected together corrupt each other. They are worse than ever when, at the termination of their punishment, they return to society." Man's crimes are his worst enemies, following him like shadows, till they drive his steps into the pit he dug.