Arubathumoovar procession: interesting safety initiative by police. Safety pins shared

Most women visiting the Arubathumoovar event  on the  Mada Streetswas in for a surprise. They were stopped by the police personnel.
Why?
The police were pushing an interesting initiative they have found useful in deploying at large events where women congregate in large numbers  –   they distribute several hundreds of safety pins to women visiting the utsavam.
Women were asked to pin their gold neck chains to their clothes so it would make it difficult for thieves to snatch away.
At the west end of the South Mada Street, through a hot Tuesday afternoon, Sub Inspector Manivannan was seen handing out hundreds of safety pins to women.
He told Mylapore Times that he and the police team have been asking the women to tie the chains to the saree using the safety pin to safeguard themselves from ‘chain snatching’ incidents.
Mylapore Times had reported on Monday evening as to how a strong police force had helped in a Zero Crime Chariot utsavam (https://www.mylaporetimes.com/2023/04/panguni-utsavam-no-chain-snatching-or-petty-thefts-reported-on-the-day-of-the-chariot-procession-says-dcp/).
Report, photo by S. Prabhu