T

he old saying “nourish a viper in one’s bosom” rings true for some Jakartans whose good intention of helping others has often resulted in them becoming victims of street crime, showing that petty criminals often take advantage of people’s kindness to lure victims.

Amelia Nur Hapsari vividly remembers the day she became a victim of a pickpocketer last month.

She had just alighted from a Transjakarta bus at the Slipi Petamburan shelter in West Jakarta and was heading to her house in Rawa Belong, when suddenly a middle-aged woman carrying many plastic bags bumped into her on the footbridge connecting the bus shelter to the sidewalk.

“Her belongings fell and scattered all over the ground. I didn’t have the heart to ignore her,” the 26-year-old recalled.

Wanting to be decent, Amelia helped the woman collect her belongings without hesitation. Not long after they parted ways, Amelia realized that her wallet was gone.

“When I looked around, that woman was nowhere to be found. I immediately called the banks that issued my ATM cards and asked the customer service officers to block them. Thankfully, my ID card wasn’t in my wallet,” she told The Jakarta Post recently.

“I didn’t report it to the police, since I’ve had my ATM cards blocked and I still have my ID card with me. I lost Rp 250,000 though [US$17],” she added.

Another street crime victim named Bona Adhitya recalled the day earlier this year that he was robbed.

He was riding his motorbike from his workplace in Cawang, East Jakarta, to his house in Depok, West Java, when two people on a motorbike moved closer to him near a traffic light.

“One of them asked me directions to Blok M [in South Jakarta]. I replied while I kept riding my bike. But then they asked me to stop and I stupidly followed them,” Bona explained.

When he stopped his motorbike, turned off the ignition and was about to approach them, another man appeared out of nowhere and pointed a knife at him. “I lost my motorbike, my wallet and my bag along with my laptop inside it. I will never forget it because the incident occurred when my wife and I were expecting our firstborn,” he said.

Both Amelia and Bona said the incidents had made them somewhat reluctant to act kindly toward strangers in public places.

They feel that their kindness was taken advantage of by criminals who stole their belongings.

“But I’m not traumatized. I still help strangers in need on the streets once in a while. I lost many valuable things simply because I wanted to help two lost motorcyclists that day. I shouldn’t have been so trusting,” Bona said.

Palmerah Police human development unit chief First Insp. Bakhrun acknowledged that criminals on the streets or in public places often took advantage of their victims’ kindness. One of the most common ploys used by pickpockets in Palmerah, West Jakarta, is to offer a massage to another passenger in an angkot (public minivan).

“The culprit pretends to take pity on another passenger, mostly elderly men. They offer to massage the elderly man’s legs. While doing so, the pickpocket takes the victims’ phone or wallet from their pocket,” he explained.

He called on people to take better care of their belongings when in crowded places and to not easily trust strangers, especially those who make friendly overtures.

PT Transjakarta spokesman Wibowo said, however, that the company dealt with pickpockets by shaming them. Anyone caught pickpocketing is made to stand in a corner of the shelter in which they were caught while carrying a board that reads “I’m a pickpocket.”

“It’s a social sanction,” Wibowo said.

“But we haven’t done that for a while. We have improved our surveillance by installing CCTV cameras in shelters and inside the buses,” he said.

Wibowo said the company would rather invest in better preventive measures to ensure Transjakarta passengers’ safety and security.