A blind lottery seller outsmarts thieves

KOTTAYAM: Rosamma Subhash (45), a visually impaired lottery seller, was alarmed when she noticed a recurring shortage in the daily collection for the tickets sold.
It was clear that some of her customers have been taking advantage of her lack of sight and she started thinking of a plan to outsmart those who have been stealing the lottery tickets.
Living alone in a small house in Vijayapuram panchayat Rosamma used to follow TV serials simply by listening to them.She recalled a character from a TV show who used a pen camera to catch a thief, and decided to do the same to apprehend the thief who was stealing her lottery tickets.
She purchased a pen camera with the assistance of a friend and attached it to her churidar. "I would stand up when customers bought tickets to ensure the camera recorded the transactions," Rosamma said.
Every evening, after closing the shop, she asked one of her regular customers to review the footage and find out who stole the lotteries.
The strategy paid off. During one such examination, a customer who used to frequent her was seen stealing lotteries. Though he used to pay for only one ticket, he used to steal an additional 4-5 lotteries. When the culprit visited the shop the next time, Rosamma confronted him, revealing that she had proof of his theft. However, Rosamma was generous enough to forgive the thief. "I told him that I am pardoning him and requested him not to visit the shop again," said Rosamma.
As the news about the pen camera incident spread, other customers who had been stealing lotteries also ceased to visit Rosamma's shop. Even though Rosamma has only studied up to Class X, she has a strong interest in gadgets and wants to learn more about them. Rosamma's life has been tough. In 2014, she married a visually challenged person, and together they sold lotteries to support themselves. However, her husband left her in 2021. Since then, Rosamma has been living independently.
To reach her place of work, where she sells lottery tickets, Rosamma spends Rs 280 daily on travel.