City of lights, looting and love: Karachiites share stories of kind muggers in viral Twitter thread

Living in Karachi can be hard. However, there are moments of respite amongst all the chaos, and there really is no better encapsulation of the city’s duality than a recent Twitter thread of the kindness of, well, robbers. A Twitter user took to the app to write about the story of someone they know who was mugged but was shown uncharacteristic kindness by the robbers, who offered to drop the person home.

They tweeted, “My favourite Karachi story is still [how] this guy who works for me had his motorbike stolen at gunpoint in Korangi. The guys who stole it gave him a ride back home on his motorbike, before riding away with it. Brilliant. We're just good people in this city.” 

The tweet received an overwhelming response, having been liked over a thousand times, with several Twitter users replying with their own experiences of such out of place kindness. 

The robbers in the original tweet weren’t the only ones concerned about how their victims would reach home safely. Another Twitter user shared a similar experience, writing, “I was once given 50 rupees rickshaw fare after being mugged and the driver was told not to charge extra.” 

A user tweeted out the story of how they were robbed at an ATM, writing, “I got mugged outside [an] ATM. They took cash and phone. I asked them to let me clear my phone, they said, “jo karna hai jaldi karo” [whatever you want to do, do it fast].”

They continued, adding an unexpected twist to the story, “Then one of the chor says, “ATM say 5k aur dedo and phone rakhlo [give us 5k more from the ATM and keep your phone]”, I said "Allah ka wada karo [Swear to God]", gave them 7k more and got the phone back.”

Another wrote about how the robbers were clearly feeling guilty over what they had done, going as far as to follow up on how the victim, who they had accidentally shot, was doing after the robbery. The user tweeted, “In 2004, I was shot during mobile snatching and the next day my cousins randomly were getting calls from the snatchers, “Wo kaisi hain ab, hum goli chalana nahi chahtay thay [How is she now? We didn’t mean to shoot].”

Sharing the story of some empathetic thieves, a user wrote, “My chacha’s office got robbed and he told them his begum was going to be really pissed if he didn't pay the doodhwala on his way home so they left him with Rs 1100.”  

A user tweeted out a story that’s fit for a movie plot. They shared, “The dakoo who came to my house [before] my O level exams took half-empty perfume bottle, a broken tape recorder from my room full of books n papers, apologised to my father (aap ache log hain [you’re good people]), and fought amongst themselves [because] my nani turned one of them into her 'beta' in a strategic move.”

Tweeting out the story of some robbers who were really just some big old softies at heart, a user wrote, “Dakoo who came to my house were taking our phones away and I was in tears. My sis asked if I'm ok? I said, no they're taking my phone away at least let me delete pictures and take out important work data. They left my phone saying, nae aise rote hue nae dekh sakte hum [we can’t see you crying like this].”

And finally, a user shared a story that truly… takes the cake. “Uncle went to a bakery to get a cake for his daughter's birthday. He entered while the store was being robbed. They took his wallet and everything. Then Uncle requested that he was here for a cake for his daughter. Dakoo bhai said jo lena hai utha lo [take whatever you want]. Uncle took 5 cakes home.”