Dysfunctional street lamps, a consequence of red tape, have fostered an inviting environment for anti-social elements, including chain-snatchers, at Global City in Virar West. Residents have been compelled to navigate a crime-prone 500-metre patch for over two months. A 42-year-old woman’s gold mangalsutra was snatched by a motorcycle-borne youth who disappeared into the darkness after committing the crime on the evening of December 17.

The victim, Shreeshaha Bontu, was out shopping with her children and mother in Virar and the accused had been following her for a long time. The distance between her house and the shopping complex is hardly two kilometres. “After the shopping was done, I decided to drop my mother and son home and asked my daughter to wait at the shopping complex till I got back for her. At the time of returning, I sensed that someone was following me on a motorcycle. But I ignored it. The moment I reached the dark patch, where no street lamp was functional, the unknown motorcycle-borne youth in his early 30s, pounced on me, snatched my gold mangalsutra and vanished. It all happened in a fraction of a second. By the time I realised that the mangalsutra, weighing over four tolas worth R3 lakh had been snatched, he was nowhere to be seen,” the victim told mid-day.