Another week and yet more incidents of crime reported to the Laudium Sun by concerned residents, for stats purposes, so that locals living in the area are warned and can hopefully take the necessary precautions to protect themselves and their property, wherever possible.
As the local police remain silent on crimes committed in the area (unless they happen to make an arrest), reliance is placed on residents to inform the Laudium Sun about incidents of crime so that the community can be informed accordingly.
In one of the latest reports received by the Laudium Sun of Laudium Ext. 3, at least two thieves who were spotted, managed to jump into a yard on Bengal Street this past Friday evening (March 7), at around 7pm, attempting to break into the home. Seemingly, the pair of thieves was disturbed and then hurriedly stole a number of items from the yard, including clothes from the washing line.
Owner of the Bengal Str home, Mahesh Joshi, explained further to the Laudium Sun what transpired: “I was at home on Friday evening at around 7pm, watching TV at that time. All of a sudden I heard a very strange noise coming from my front door, but let it be, as I thought that perhaps it was the wind. But then I heard my dogs barking very loudly and that is when I realized that something serious must be happening because my dogs don’t usually bark that much. Although I was scared to go outside alone to check what was happening, at the risk of being attacked should there be criminals in the yard, I nevertheless got the courage to go outside. I went through my back door and was shocked to find two dark skinned African men in the yard. I started screaming and that is when the two thieves ran out from my yard, carrying a number of items with them including clothing they stole from the washing line. When I went later to the front door, I saw that the door lock had been tampered with and then realised that these thieves were the ones who tried to break in through the front door. I am so glad that our dogs were there, and because of this the thieves weren’t able to get into our house. I wanted to chase after them, but then I thought it was too dangerous as it was possible that they were armed, so I just let it go, since they only managed to steal some items from the yard. Crime in Laudium is becoming very dangerous, and seemingly every day residents are targeted, with criminals breaking into their properties. The crime must stop. The police are not doing their work in stopping crime. We see all these street gates closing off streets, but crime still remains very high. It is only when one falls victim to crime that one realises the seriousness of the situation. My family and I are terrified at the thought that these criminals could have entered our home and attacked us. We are very thankful for the dogs barking, which I think scared the thieves away from the front door.”
Ayesha Patel of Bengal Street and a neighbour of Mahesh, told the Laudium Sun: “We heard about the incident of thieves entering the yard of Mahesh and stealing. It is very dangerous, especially on Bengal Street as almost every day we have break-ins here and there. Many people are not even reporting the crime as they have lost faith in the police. We do not see much police patrols especially at night and despite the many private security companies patrolling the area, crime still continues. I cannot understand why we should have to pay for private security guards and patrollers, when we have the police who are supposed to patrol the streets and protect the community. It seems that the police are tired or scared of the criminals. We should demand better service from the police, which is our constitutional right. There should be no reason to hire private security or even close off streets with gates, if only the police did their job properly. We pay taxes for this government service, so why should we pay extra for security? If we think wisely, we are creating an environment where we create more problems for ourselves, and we have no one else to blame. The police will keep on not doing their job, as we are relying on private security, like many of us were relying on private hospitals and schools, but can not pay the high fees anymore .”
Debraj Kallier, also of Bengal Street, told the Laudium Sun: “We are living in such a sick society where criminals are getting more rewards than law abiding citizens. This must stop and we as a community must stand against all crime. If we can’t fight crime, then who will stand with us and save Laudium? We need to get Laudium back the way it was before, free from crime and grime. Look at how fast Laudium is decaying, it’s really sad.”
