A sad story. But the subject reminded me of this, from 'You've gone too far this time, Sir!' - a book by a nutter who cycled from Richmond to India...
"People warn of the potential for thievery in India. 'Slum Dog Millionaire' reiterates the risks faced. From my own experiences, this sounded like twaddle. I didn’t lock my room at night or when I went out. I had accidentally left my bag open outside my room in a busy cheap hotel in the city with all the valuables visible and nothing had happened. My wallet fell from my bag and about five cars stopped to tell me. Cleaners came into my room with thousands of rupees (months of salary) lying on the bed amongst the mess, and they just stacked them all nicely and I was sure the idea to take them hadn’t even entered their heads. I had got it into my head that everyone was honest and decent. So I was devastated to be blatantly robbed whilst on the beach. Stupidly I had left my bag open with my wallet, SLR camera, video camera, $200 and ten thousand rupees of notes in it. I was planning to do some stick martial arts, so I had also left my bamboo rod next to it. I left it for maybe one minute as I paddled in the sea and looked at the fishermen. When I got back, it was gone. I searched everywhere. I asked anyone nearby if they’d seen the scoundrel who’d taken it. I could see my stick's imprint in the sand. After a fruitless search, I had to face facts – my stick was gone forever. My bag and all my valuables were still there."
