Sansin (noun): Sahsi (Hindi), and incorrigible

According to the area SHO, Mani Ram Kadian, the three had managed to remove bricks from the wall of the store, and pack 62 meters into three gunny bags when they were caught red-handed by shopkeepers of a nearby market. Lakshmi, Sundari and Gopalo were booked under Sections 454, 380 and 411 of the IPC.

"Sansis are hard nuts to crack," says SHO Mani Ram Kadian. "They don’t confess at all. No straight answers, either. The only time we are successful in catching them is when they are caught red-handed," he explains. These three women are no different. Pleading naivete, they dodge one question after the other, frustrating police efforts to extract information. Lakshmi says she’s 35, has 10 children, and works hard all day picking up scrap metal and plastic from dumps. Ask her if she was actually caught stealing, she pleads, "I don’t even know what those things were. Who would steal in broad daylight?" "Not all Sansins are the same Sahib. We didn’t do it," says Gopalo.

Sundari, in her early twenties, is carrying an infant who, she says, is nearly 10 days old. "This is also a part of their modus operandi. The women in advanced pregnancy or carrying infants use it to their advantage. The police or people are afraid of tackling such women," an official says.

Many members of the Sansi tribe still take to crime, as a profession, the official points out. "The British outlawed and scheduled them as `criminal tribes’ along with two other tribes — Pardis and Banwarias," he adds.

"The word Sansi actually comes from Sahsi in Hindi, which means courageous. Known for their bravery, members of this tribe are originally from areas in Rajasthan and Haryana. They have their own set of rules and looting or theft is considered a part of work. Not that they are not scared of the police but their fear of going against the community is greater," says the official. "If we disclose anything, the panches will declare us outcasts," says Gopalo.

Describing the modus operandi of some women caught in the recent past, Kadian says, "They would go out with gunny bags in the wee hours to marriage pandals. The attendants would normally be asleep and they would pick up whatever stuff they could lay their hands on. Once we recovered 22 huge pots and pans from a woman’s house."

"We had informed the husbands of these three women about their arrest yesterday but they haven’t showed up as yet," says SHO Kadian. "That’s just the way it works for them," he adds with a shrug. RM79MDRVCM IVCMMDNMsave MDBR MDBR TOivtoMDNM MDBRFROMivfmMDNM MDBR SLUGIVSLMDBOSANSI.XTG MDBRPATHMDBOivxyVA$PA MDRV CENMDNM MDRVPUBIVPUMDNM MDRVDTIVDAMDNM MDRV/MDNM MDRV/MDNM MDRVSECIVSEMDNM MDRVP#MDNM MDBR MDBOÅ 20Å 20Å 20Å 20Å 20MDBRWORDMDBOVA$WCMDNMÅ 20Å 20Å 20Å 20MDRVCMSIVCEMDNM36.86 MDRVCO-LIMDNMIVplMDBO1-1 MDRVMDRV NOTESMDNMIVMSMDNMMDNM MDRV MDBR AUMDBOIVAU IVORMDBO ;04/18,17:54MDRVREIVREMDNM MDBOivop ;04/18,22:40MDBRMDBRVE#IVVEMDNM0MDBO MDRV MDRV MSGIVECMDNM MDRV MDRVÅ 20INDIAN EXPRESS, SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT, REGIONAL OFFICE (ELECTRONICS), NEW DELHI # Šþý