Delhi: Class 9 boy steals mother’s gold jewellery to gift girlfriend iPhone, arrange birthday party

Delhi Police apprehended a minor on Wednesday for allegedly stealing his mother's gold jewellery to buy an Apple iPhone and to finance the birthday party of his girlfriend in Najafgarh, South West Delhi.

The incident came to light after the minor's mother filed an FIR about a house theft by an unknown person. During the investigation, the police identified the teenager, a Class 9 student, as the culprit.

According to Delhi Police, the accused sold his mother's gold earring, gold ring, and gold chain to two different goldsmiths in the Kakrola area. He used the money to purchase an Apple iPhone for the girl, with whom he was allegedly in a relationship.

The police have arrested a goldsmith, identified as Kamal Verma (40 years), and recovered one gold ring and earring.

"On August 3, an incident of house theft was reported by a woman in which she reported the theft of two gold chains, one pair of gold earrings and one gold ring from her house on August 2, by unknown person between 8 am to 3 pm," PTI quoted Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh as saying.

During the investigation, the police noticed no suspicious activity near the house of the complainant in CCTV footage.

"CCTV footage of the crime scene was checked, but no suspicious activity was found near the house of the complainant at the time of the incident. The team further examined the neighbourhood for any clues but no one witnessed any suspicious activity during the said time," the DCP added.

The police then focused on the role of family members in the crime. Later, they noticed that the minor son of the woman had been missing since the crime. They started gathering information and questioned his school friends.

"Our team got to know that he (accused) had purchased a new iPhone worth ₹50,000. The team conducted many raids on his hideouts at Dharampura, Kakrola and Najafgarh, but everytime he managed to escape. On Tuesday, a tipoff was received that the juvenile will come to his home at about 6 pm, following which a trap was laid near the house," DCP Singh said.

During the search, an Apple iPhone mobile was recovered from the juvenile’s possession. Initially, the boy denied his involvement. However, he later confessed that he had sold the stolen gold to two goldsmiths.

"The juvenile said that he is a student of Class 9 and studying in a private school in Najafgarh. His father died due to illness and he did not have any interest in studies and scored average marks," the DCP said.

"In order to make a stunning impression over his girlfriend on her birthday, he approached his mother to give him money but due to limited resources, she denied and advised him to concentrate on his studies. Angered over the denial, he decided to steal money from his house," the police added.