The Kodungaiyur police were in a fix recently, after nabbing Lingiah, a hearing and speech impaired 25-year-old, on charges of burglary. Unable to interrogate him, they took the help of the Church of South India (CSI) School for the Deaf to help interpret what the suspect was saying.
The Santhome-based school has offered this assistance to the police since 2014 at no cost. Its 32 teachers are all trained interpreters. “In 2014, policemen visited our school and sought our help with a burglary case, after which we started helping the police and even the court,” says W. James Albert, principal of the school.
At least once a week, police personnel from stations like Mylapore, Royapuram, Royapettah and other stations bring hearing and speech impaired suspects for interrogation to the school.
“Most of them are from States like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka and Delhi. They are in the age group of 22 to 35 and have most often been involved in burglaries,” says Mr. Albert.
The interpreters first gain the trust of the suspects by asking them their name and other personal details. “They most often say they resorted to stealing out of hunger, and because society does not give them any job,” he adds.
The police say that, sometimes, hearing and speech impaired teenagers are used as shields by criminals.
“However, most of the suspects we nab confess to the crime and do not divulge too many details about their family or village. They arrive in the city and, when they don’t get a job, they steal,” explains a police officer. M. Manivannan, an interpreter from the school who often helps the police, says, “The main challenge in interpreting suspects [from outside the State] is that Tamil Nadu does not follow the Indian sign language system. So it is a bit difficult because the signs are different.”
