BENGALURU: Italian filmmaker Vittorio De Sica's 1948 classic ‘Bicycle Thieves' offers the moving story of a poor man and his son's frantic search for the former's stolen bicycle in the neighbourhoods of post-World War II Rome.
Now imagine the reel-life despondence of a father-son duo over a missing lifeline (read a bicycle) being upended in a real-life crime drama where a father-daughter duo in Bengaluru steals more than 40 bicycles, before the long arm of law finally catches up with them.
Unlike De Sica's celluloid depiction, where a father-son duo's search for a stolen cycle leads them through the trials and tribulations that are typical of a post-War urban decay, this 24-year-old man called Mohammad Fayazuddin, a labourer and resident of Hullahalli Gate on Begur-Koppa Road and a native of Raichur, uses his 15-year-old stepdaughter as a partner in crime to offset financial headwinds. The two narratives, though chalk and cheese in their portrayals, have poverty connecting the dots between reel and real.
Police recovered 22 of those cycles that were stolen from Hulimavu in south Benglauru and its vicinity over the last one year.
As Fayazuddin took the girl on his scooter, the duo would keep an eye out for geared bicycles. Upon finding an unlocked one parked somewhere, Fayazuddin would drop the girl nearby, who would then quietly ride away on it in the wink of an eye -- to be sold off later to some unsuspecting buyer for Rs 8,000 on an average.
Police sources said, Fayazuddin had incurred huge debts and chose to steal bicycles to earn some quick buck. He used his teenage stepdaughter, a school dropout, for the thefts, thinking that people wouldn't easily suspect a minor, who would also be able to evade any harsh punishment under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
While Fayazuddin was arrested last week and sent to judicial custody, the girl was produced before the child welfare committee, which sent her to her mother's custody.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.