How many arrests will it take for this maid to learn?

Twenty-one-year-old housemaid Chandrika has been in and out of jail at least thrice for the same offence, but nothing seems to deter her. This resident of Venkatapur in Koramangala, Bangalore used to target foreign nationals and steal valuables from their houses. This time, her luck ran out and she was arrested.

Alain Dempsey, a Canadian techie working with a private firm here, filed a theft complaint recently. The police arrested the girl and recovered diamond and gold jewellery worth `3.28 lakh from her.

Chandrika, a PUC dropout, is fluent in English. She used to approach foreign nationals and migrants for job as a housemaid. She would earn her employer’s trust and eventually start stealing valuables from the house. She never stole valuables at one go to avoid her employer’s suspicion.

Earlier in 2009, she was arrested in connection with a theft case by Koramangala police for stealing from the house of a Tamil Nadu native. The police questioned her many times, but she never confessed to crime.

It was only when the police searched her house and found stolen valuables in there that she was sent to jail.

Later, she was released on bail but nothing deterred her. She moved to HAL and committed the same offence and was arrested again.

This time, on being released, she went to work at Dempsey’s house.

When he realised that a diamond ring was missing, he questioned Chandrika but she feigned ignorance. Later, gold jewellery went missing.

That’s when Dempsey approached the police and filed a complaint. The police suspected the housemaid and questioned her. Later, she went into hiding. Deputy commissioner of police (south-east), Dr PS Harsha formed a team that arrested her and recovered the stolen property.

Fearing a house-search, Chandrika had pledged the jewellery with a pawn-broker.

She has been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.