Karimnagar: Over 200 private hostels in Karimnagar city have taken security, one of the important aspect, for granted.
No private hostel, including girls hostels, has a security guard or a watchman, leaving as many as 50,000 inmates at risk.
In the wake of growing crime against women, the inmates are prone to attacks by miscreants and psychopaths.
The hostels, mostly, are run by unemployed couples. For many reasons, hostels have become a good source of income.
“I started the hostel for a livelihood,” said B. Rajendra Prasad, owner of Vaishnavi Girls Hostel. As cities have become education hubs, students from rural areas are increasingly relying on the private accommodation leading to proliferation of hostels.
Karimnagar city has influx of students from villages, located within 40 km radius.
“We have not had any violence or assault on inmates of our hostel. I and my wife constantly watch the movements of persons entering the building. The main gate is locked in the night for the safety of the girls,” said Swami of Chaitanya Girls Hostel located at Mukharampura.
Sujata, who runs Siri Girls Hostel, Mankammathota, said she would stay awake till 12 in the midnight to keep a check on miscreants. “My husband and son keep tab on the hostel constantly. Girls in our hostel are safe. We don’t have any security threats,” she stated.
The inmates of the hostels also seem to be unaware of the implications of security lapses.
Moreover, they seem to have a soft corner towards those organising the hostel. “I think am safe here. Our aunty is very cordial,” opined B. Sravanti, an inmate of the hostel.
Though no incidents of attack have been reported so far, the hostels are prone to nuisance from boys’ hostels nearby.
“I was forced to shift the hostel as I could not bear with the nuisance by boys living in a private hostel neabry,” said a B. Tech II-year student at Jyothismathi College of Engineering. In some parts of the city, girls hostels are located near to boys’ hostels. As there is no mechanism to monitor or inspect facilities at the hostels, all of them
have been derecognised by government and are being run illegally. “I have not studied the problem yet. I don’t have info about the hostels,” said V. Shiva Kumar, SP, denying to comment on the absence of security at the hostels.
