Miranda House student runs after thief,catches him

“It happened in front of my eyes near the Khalsa College traffic signal around 8.30 pm. I instantly took off,despite the traffic,and managed to grab the man’s T-shirt from behind after a while. By then,a crowd had gathered and police have reached the spot,” she said.

Policemen spotted Swati running after the chain-snatcher and they,too,joined the chase. But it was the young girl who helped nab the man,a police officer said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) P Karunakaran said the gold chain was recovered from the snatcher,Sajjad Sheikh of Usmanpur in Northeast Delhi,and returned to the woman.

The DCP said Swati and the policemen,who were part of the chase,would be rewarded for their brave effort.

Swati,a resident of Bhajanpura,said one should not wait for police in such cases.

Denouncing the indifferent attitude of people who “just wait and watch”,she said: “People should help each other. When I was trying to catch the chain-snatcher,I narrowly escaped from being hit by a truck. There were people standing there and watching. They did not come forward to help. Instead,some of them said I should not have risked my life.”

Last month,Swati “slapped” a drunk man harassing a six-year-old girl. “The girl was crying and I couldn’t take it anymore. I went up to the man and slapped him. When I approached police,they didn’t take any action,” she said.

A champion athlete,Swati has won a gold medal at the Rajiv Gandhi cross-country race.

She aspires to be a contestant for a television reality show. “I did more push-ups than a guy in the MTv Roadies audition in Bangalore last year. This year,the audition was held in Noida and I almost made it to the show. But I could not because the show was to be shot in the US and I did not have a passport.” she said.