Talking in different tongues

The shock and grievous nature of injuries suffered by the African duo aside, the Delhi Police officers found themselves facing a different hurdle—communicating with them while trying to ascertain the sequence of events that ended up in the accident on a south Delhi flyover on Sunday night, reports jatin nana

The shock and grievous nature of injuries suffered by the African duo aside, the Delhi Police officers found themselves facing a different hurdle—communicating with them while trying to ascertain the sequence of events that ended up in the accident on a south Delhi flyover on Sunday night.

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Twelve hours after the accident occurred on the Sarita Vihar flyover, the Delhi Police officers were still working hard at deciphering information gathered from the two victims — both residents of the Ivory Coast.

“When we reached the accident spot and tried to ascertain the identity of the duo, neither of them seemed to be able to understand what the other was trying to convey,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.

He said that both the Delhi Police’s and the African duo’s insufficient command over the English language was to blame for it.

“Since both the victims have been in the capital for a limited period of time — they didn’t speak much English, leave aside Hindi,” said a senior police officer who was among the first to reach the accident spot.

“I had to break down my questions and use sign language which I have learnt over the years to the best of my ability to communicate with them.”