UK Indian women told to hide jewellery

Amid growing incidents of jewellery snatching and burglaries in British shops, police in the east Midlands town of Leicester have advised women of Indian-origin to use a scarf or clothing to cover their ornaments while in the streets.

The town with a large minority of Indian-origin has seen a spate of daring burglaries of jewellery shops owned by Indian origin businessmen, particularly in the 'Golden Mile' on Belgrave Road, popularly known as 'Little India'.

The road is called 'Golden Mile' due to the large number of jewellery shops there, with trade arrangements with jewellers in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The police have now issued guidance to the Asian community on how to protect themselves from muggers and thieves seeking profit from the rising prices of gold, reports from Leicester said.

A video has also been produced on the guidance.

Created by city crime reduction officer, Alan Cook, the video it features Dee Bahra, local radio presenter, who received complaints from listeners on her programme about the problem of ornaments being snatched on roads.

Bahra said: "For many women, especially Hindus and Sikhs, but also women from other Asian communities, it is traditional to wear jewellery. But it's a sad fact that thieves are looking to target vulnerable pedestrians in the street.

The police have seen a marked rise in reports of gold chains, bracelets and other jewellery being snatched from pedestrians, mainly women, the Leicester Mercury, a leading local daily, reported.

The police said 17 reports of jewellery snatches were received from people in the Golden Mile, Belgrave Road and Melton Road areas, from May 28 to August 28, compared with five in the same period last year.

Kev Mistry, a police officer from the Belgrave Safer Neighbourhood Team, said an increase in the value of gold had made tempting targets of female pedestrians with their jewellery on show.

Bahra said she had also been a target of a jewellery thief.