It’s over a decade ago that B. Pharm student Ayesha Meera was brutally murdered at a girls’ hostel near Vijayawada. If the police have botched the probe, successive governments have not fared better either in taking steps to prevent a recurrence of such tragedies. In 2011, four years after Ayesha's death, the then state government framed guidelines to secure the safety of women and girls in hostels in line with the Women and Children's Institutions (Licensing Act) of 1956. However, as it so often happens, the rules and guidelines remain confined to paper.
Recent inspections in Vijayawada by the police threw up a shocking fact. Ninety per cent of women’s hostels in the city have no licence. Neither do they adhere to basic norms like installing CCTV cameras, employing 24/7 security guards, maintenance of in and out registers, not to speak of drinking water and medical facilities among others. When this newspaper made enquiries, it was found that the state of affairs was no different across Andhra. There are over 1,100 hostels in the state; a majority don’t have a licence.
In the last few years, women's hostels have mushroomed particularly in cities such as Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Kurnool and Anantapur. But the police and Women's Development and Child Welfare Department appear to be blissfully unaware of their existence.
The worst part: Senior officials themselves are ignorant of the licensing rules as are those running the hostels. As per the law, one should obtain the licence from a district-level committee, headed by the collector, superintendent of police and an official from the department. The evasive replies of the officials indicate no such committee is active in the state. Now is the time for the government to get its act together. Uttering platitudes and paying lip service to Ayesha won’t bring her back or ensure justice to her parents. The government must order a reinvestigation and complement it with strict reinforcement of rules for women’s safety.