FEE-PAYING INDIA ‘THIEF SCHOOLS’ TEACH CHILDREN HOW TO PICK POCKETS AT WEALTHY WEDDINGS

Parents in poor Indian villages pay top dollar to send children to 'schools' which prepare them for a life of crime

So-called fee-paying thief schools in India are training teenagers for a life of crime.

The criminal education includes a range of lessons which produce "professional" gangsters on "graduation".

Three villages in Madhya Pradesh, central India - Kadia, Gulkhedi, and Hulkhedi - are notorious for training children to steal, according to NDTV, an Indian news media outlet.

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Parents send their children, around 12 to 13 years old, to these "thief schools" where they join local criminal gangs and receive skills training.

The "teachers" are gang members and seasoned criminals.

The curriculum includes pickpocketing, bag-snatching in crowded places, evading the police, and withstanding beatings. Children are also taught how to gamble and sell alcohol.

A place at a "thief school" costs parents 200,000 to 300,000 rupees (US$2,400 to US$3,600) in tuition fees.

The students usually come from less educated and impoverished families.

They are trained to blend into wealthy families and gain entry to the most exclusive high-society weddings.

After a year of schooling, the teenagers could "graduate", stealing jewellery at the weddings of the rich.

The underworld education reportedly allows the teenagers to earn five to six times the amount of their tuition fees, and their parents can also receive an annual payment of 300,000 (US$3,600) to 500,000 rupees from gang leaders.

Police say that more than 300 children from such schools have been involved in wedding thefts across India.

On August 8, during a lavish wedding in Jaipur, a city in northwestern India, a thief stole a bag containing jewellery worth 15 million rupees (US$180,000) and 100,000 rupees in cash.

In March, a 24-year-old bandit who graduated from a thief school stole a bag of jewellery at a wedding in Gurgaon, northern India.

Police inspector Ramkumar Bhagat said that since most of the criminals are minors, it is "extremely challenging" for police to take action.

People convicted of theft in India can face up to seven years in prison and a fine.

However, the country's legal system is more lenient in handling juvenile crimes, with a focus on correction and education.

Villagers also shield the minor criminals, adding to the difficulties police have in combating the growing underground network of professional thieves.

Such thief schools have attracted widespread attention on social media.

One online observer wrote: "These children could have used the tuition fees for a formal education. It's the poor social environment that has led them astray."

"These parents exploit their children to commit crimes for money. They are unfit to be parents," said another.