14 May,2018 11:39 AM IST | Mumbai | Anamika Gharat
The women said once they stopped hanging their lingerie out to dry, they began getting a fresh pair every evening. Representational Image
Narpoli's roadside Romeo could only fly undie the radar for so long with his fetish for women's undergarments. On Saturday night, Narpoli police caught resident pervert Mayuresh Patil, 21, red-handed as he tried to steal the lingerie of his favourite neighbourhood aunty.
For the past month, Patil has been stealing innerwear of several women in the area and replacing it with new ones full of lewd messages. While Patil kept the stolen lingerie with him, cops have not recovered it yet.
Taking the damp ones
According to Narpoli police, Patil had become quite the roadside Romeo in the area after he failed his Std 10 exams. His fetish came to the fore after the wife of a police Patil in the area began noticing the disappearance of her undergarments.
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She observed that whenever she hung her lingerie out to dry, it would go missing. She thought the air swept it away, but dismissed that theory after she received a fresh pair the next day. This happened thrice and on the third day, she got a pair with 'I love you' written on it. After this, she stopped hanging her clothes outside for a couple of days and everything went back to normal.
Getting a fresh pair
The woman then happened to hear the same thing from two to three of her neighbours. Those women said once they stopped hanging their lingerie out to dry, they began getting a fresh pair every evening. All the women targeted by Patil are between 30-35 years old.
Officials said, "The women didn't speak up or discuss this issue with anyone in the family, thinking it would ruin their reputation. But later, all of them decided to tell their husbands. Then, one of them made a plan to catch the accused, under which one of them deliberately hung the garments out to dry, while the others kept a watch to find the accused."
Out of one-sided love
How did the plan work out? Shantaram Mahajan, investigating officer of the case said, "Patil saw undergarments hanging outside the house of one of his favourite aunties. He jumped into the compound to steal the undergarments. Just then, others who were watching him, attacked him and handed him over him to us. We immediately arrested him under sections 354, 509 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code."
"He said he would do it deliberately as he had one-sided love for the women. Currently, we've received a complaint from one woman, but we're investigating other women in the area, too," said the officer.
Narpoli is a locality in Bhiwandi in the Thane district of Maharashtra
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