They are a law unto themselves

KOCHI: How much of safety can you guarantee your daughter when she is being housed at a hostel in Kochi? Hardly any. Says T K Ashraf, Health Standing committee chairperson: “Till presently, there has not been any check on the number of hostels and paying guests that are functioning in the city, for the simple reason that there are too many of them and we do not have the time for it.”Corporation officials also admit that there has been no checking done in any of the hostels in the  past. “It is true that we have been approached at times with complaints from people stating that some hostels are not functioning with a licence. When we are notified though, we go check. Otherwise it is next to impossible to keep a constant check.” And in spite of a huge responsibility being showered on Social Welfare Department officials to look after the welfare of its people, even they are washing their hands of this matter. Officer K Mukundan said: “We only do registration for those hostels which belong under the Societies Registration Act. Otherwise we hold no responsibility for the hostel registrations.” Even as authorities are hardly concerned about whether hostels in the city provide enough security, parents here fear for their children’s safety. “ Some of these hostels are not even located in safe localities. It was only when I was looking for a hostel for my niece the other day, I realised how unsafe many of these hostels are. This hostel was extremely dingy, with no security guard. And it is exactly located in between men’s lodgings,” said Elizabeth Varghese. Apart from hostels being located at unsafe locations, students complain about the threat of exhibitionism at hostel premises. Says a girl who stays at a hostel in Ernakulam South: "There is always this threat of men coming in the nights and standing outside our hostel. It sometimes scares us during the nights.”