Australian woman tourist killed in Delhi

Alan D

The Times of India reports that, as a result of the murder of Dawn Griggs, the traffic police have decided to set up a committee headed by joint commissioner of police Qamar Ahmed to "further streamline" the taxi system at Delhi airport.

The committee will combine tour and taxi agents and a member from the AAI (Airports Authority of India). One of the major problems they will have to deal with is that none of the city's autorickshaw and taxi drivers have been verified by the police.

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In another report from the Times of India the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said that all possible action had been taken against touts at Delhi Airport. The agency claimed to have arrested more than 1000 touts at the airport in the last 10 months, and since February 1, 444 touts have been held. 251 were fined by the airport manager and the rest were handed over to the police.

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I've summarised both these reports as the Times of India website is somtimes very slow even on a fast connection.

Another report from Times of India on the situation at Delhi Airport.

IVAN

Let's not exagerate with the "clueless" business.

The whole world doesn't speak native English and while many Indians speak better English than many native speakers, some mistakes are expected, particularly concerning the more idiomatic conventions of usage of certain words.

The author probably used "clueless" in reference to the fact that the murdered woman didn't see any "clues" permitting her to realise that the way to the forested area was not the way to her hotel.
In his mind, "clueless" obviously meant that foreigners don't have the local knowledge needed to recognise clues indicating them that something is wrong.

Let's not be clueless about the fact that not everybody in the world speaks perfect English.

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Alan D

I didn't pay much attention to the word "clueless" because I do think there is sometimes a slight difference of meaning between words in English English and Indian English.

The English English use of the word is a bit derogatory, meaning someone who has a total lack of understanding of a situation or is plain stupid.

From reading all the other reports about this tragic death in the Times of India what comes across is that foreign tourists are seen as rather innocent and suseptible.

In general I think the newspaper has reported the death of Dawn Griggs in a responsible and sympathetic way.

LuAnnandJawahar

The use of "clueless" just means she was unsuspecting, it doesn't mean she was stupid or careless. Just like if you say someone is "homely" you don't mean they are ugly. Etc/ etc/

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alfa

Delhi is one of the safest cities in the world. The crime against tourists is taken very seriously. One has to note that the news hit all the national dailies front pages and all the local tv news channels also. The prep was caught in less than 24 hours and knowing indian legal system, will not get bail atleast for ten years.

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iqbal

Wow...is this true? I would love to see the data backing this.

pooch

I reckon Delhi is just not safe in comparison to the south for the average visitor.

In Bangalore , both domestic and international after you have fixed a pre paid taxi and boarded it the police note down your intended destination, which would read something like Brigade Towers Hotel, MG Road and not just MG Road. The passenger's name, nationality and sex is also jotted down. This is the case with licensed auto rickshaws plying their trade at the airport and railways stations as well.

Sadhu

Just out of curiosity, how does Chennai airport work? I have survived multiple trips through Delhi, but hit Chennai for the first time in about a week and a half. I've been curios as to how it is in terms of security, scams etc getting from airport to hotel late at night. We arrive around midnight.

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Tomi

Sadhu, when I arrived in Chennai (from Frankfurt) about a year ago, I had a taxi service waiting for me, which I had pre-booked through my hotel in Mamallapuram --he had an ID and I had a voucher. I didn't think of any possible scams, and the airport seemed more provincial and less rough than Delhi's or than many train stations.

Direct to Mamallapuram skipping Chennai; that's an option not too many people think of, that can turn out to be safer and more relaxed.

(Read on for digression.)
I tought it would be nicer to arrive in a small town, and I was right. I arrived at my hotel after 2 AM, and managed to fall asleep right away and not experience much culture shock until the next day. The Mamalla Bhavan Annexe was the hotel, one of the best quality/price ratio I've had anywhere in India, air conditioned, friendly, relaxed, attractive, centrally located but shielded by an entrance courtyard (with beer), with good service and intelligent desk people who were conversant in politics and tourism.

I woke up around 9 AM happy. The second morning and thereafter (I stayed a week), though, I was woken up around 5 AM by cheap music blasted from the overloaded speakers of a town temple. It could be heard everywhere in town and it cut through the air-con noise. I hadn't heard it the first morning!

Wanderer22

Thanks for the tip Tomi. Have been planning to arrive in the South next trip and this is a winner. Singapore Air has a subsiduary called SilkAir that flies into Hyderabad, Kochi and Trivandrum. How would one of these be for international arrival? Probably more relaxed than Delhi. Wonder what their arrival times are? I HATE late night arrival.

Should this go to a new thread ?.... Southern Arrival

Wanderer22