Bali hotel incident: Thievery thrives on what?

Social media strongly lambasted the incident of theft at a Bali hotel recently in which an Indian family is caught, in embarrassing footage, leaving with hotel items such as electronics, towels, hangers, toiletries. These are obviously not meant for the guests to take away.

No wonder the family got outraged at first, but then lowered their voice upon understanding the gravity of the situation. A man is also shown offering money to compensate for the crime they had committed.

What is more shocking in this whole 2-minute, 20-second drama-infused footage is that the family is a wealthy one and that they can easily afford the items they had pinched and packed carefully in their bags.

This definitely raises the question about why people feel the urge to steal? And more importantly, why do wealthy people steal petty stuff like handtowels and minibar items?

Why do people steal?

People who are stricken with poverty, many times, can be seen resorting to stealing food or money for the sake of feeding their hungry stomachs. But there are many others as well who don't really need to steal but they do so often for the excitement or the thrill of the act, or maybe they just think they can easily get away with it.

Stealing from hotels, or from hyper stores, gives this realisation to a number of people that the organisation is already rich enough and that one Snickers bar or a handtowel is not going to cost them a lot as they are already being charged for services/ goods offered. So, in a way, they think they are within their rights to do so and there is nothing immoral in it.

What is Kleptomania?

Kleptomania is the root cause behind even wealthy stealing as and when they get the opportunity. Those affected with this mental condition will not be able to resist the temptation of getting a chance to steal something even when they don't have the need for it.

Apparently, Kleptomania is also seen as a compulsive behaviour with no control, further categorising it to be a part of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

An example of Kleptomania would be that a man goes to work. But before reaching his desk spots an expensive pen (in reality it is totally affordable for him) decides to steal it before anyone notices him doing it.

Thus, there is a line that demarcates ordinary theft and Kleptomania. In ordinary theft, the value of the item which is sought to be stolen is well verified by the thief whereas, in the latter, the monetary value or the need of the item(s) is not considered.

Those who steal because of Kleptomania need medical help. Generally, this condition is overlooked in our society and those who suffering from Kleptomania often fail to realise that this unnecessary stealing habit is because of their mental health condition and needs to be treated with professional help.

Country gets a bad name

Others who indulge in such activities should try to get rid of the urge of stealing from places where they are spending a lot of money for goods/ services. It is not a healthy practice to steal items from hotels or hypermarkets.

On a broader perspective, people travelling abroad should keep this in mind that they are in a way representing the country. Therefore, this kind of inappropriate behaviour will result in the country getting a bad name.