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Monk catches thief

12 December 2008

A monk in Phuentsholing caught a 17-year-old student running off with a stolen hand bag. The student said he stole the money in order to repay drug dealers in Jaigaon who threatened to cut him up into pieces.

Tashi Lhamo, the relieved owner of the bag, was thankful that the monk prevented the loss of her “necessities” in the bag, which were money, a cell phone and important documents “I was circumambulating the Zangtopelri Lhakang when suddenly the boy snatched my bag and forcefully pushed me away,” she said. “He was very aggressive.”

An eyewitness, Tsheten, who knew the boy, said that he saw the boy hiding behind a tree, looking out for a victim and suddenly committing the theft.

Other witnesses said that the monk immediately ran after the boy and successfully brought him down with a tackle any rugby player would have been proud of. “If I had not taken him down, he would have hit me with a weapon,” the monk said.

The spiky-haired boy, who was dressed in branded clothes and carried an expensive cell phone, appeared to be from a well-to-do family. He claimed to be a class XI student at a private school in Phuentsholing “I owe a lot of money to some people in Jaigaon who said they would hack me into pieces if I didn’t pay them,” he said. “I couldn’t find a temporary job so crime was my only option.”

The boy also said that he had complained to the traffic police that his life was in danger, only to be told that he should report the case to the Indian police.

“If I had gone to report the case to the police in Jaigaon, the goons would have found me and cut me up,” he said.

After much pleading and crying, the boy was set free by the monk and the police. The monk, in almost Shaolin fashion, returned the bag to the owner and advised the boy to become a good person.

By Sangay Wangchuk

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Posted by Bhutan Observer · Filed Under News 

Comments

6 Responses to “Monk catches thief”

  1. Rinzin on December 12th, 2008 10:33 am

    The article above almost looks like an essay by some high school student. I guess there is more to reporting that filling up the space.

  2. kado on December 13th, 2008 2:24 pm

    whow sound like true budhist , this how it must be , beside that if we all act well we will reach the true budhist way of life,

  3. yeshi on December 14th, 2008 1:13 pm

    this can be real essay type because ending was so easy that boy was set free BUT if this was real story then boy could have given job that suits him and also infront of anyone.

  4. KuKu on December 14th, 2008 8:40 pm

    Nice Story!. But I am surprised that the Thief was let go free just because he cried and pleaded for mercy. What if the smart Monk would not have caught the thief?. He would have run away, paid the money (whatever was there in the bag) to the local goons in Jaigaon to clear up his dirty dues. wow! what a justice.

  5. kins on December 15th, 2008 1:04 pm

    Monk has shown the good example to fight the crime and it is our responsibility to make zero crime in Bhutan. We cannot wait only for police to fight the crime. Hoping to see the same positive impact from the monk.

  6. pran on December 18th, 2008 4:58 pm

    the ending is humane. hope the thief has an end to his troubles.

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