Are private lodges in Hyderabad turning into sex dens for sexually abusing minors?

Hyderabad: Some private lodges in the city have become dens where minors are sexually abused. Two minor girls from the Old City were kidnapped and sexually assaulted within a month. In both cases, the accused used private lodges to commit the crimes. After these incidents, questions are being raised about the arrangements related to the safety of women, especially young and minor girls, in private lodges in the city.

The latest incident is from the Dabeerpura police station limits. A 14-year-old girl was abducted by two youths and gang raped in a lodge in Nampally. They kept the girl there for two days. Meanwhile, in August, a class IX girl from Hafiz Babanager was raped in a private lodge in Shahalibanda. The Chandrayangutta police booked a case on 12 August and remanded the accused.

According to the Dabeerpura police, the victim's mother complained that her daughter was injected with drugs via needles before the rape. The girl's mother and grandmother told the media that the girl went to a general store on Monday morning from where she was kidnapped. When she returned to the house on Wednesday, she told them she had been raped by two youths.

Dabeerpura kidnapping and rape

Dabeerpura inspector G. Koteshwar Rao said that on 13 September, they received a complaint of a missing girl. "The next day, the girl's relative brought to our notice that the girl was kidnapped and raped by two youths from Shah Colony Rein Bazar. Both accused left the girl near her house the next day and ran away. After receiving a written complaint, we have taken a 20-year-old and a 22-year-old into custody. An investigation is on. We sent the girl to a hospital for medical examination," he said.

The police collected CCTV footage from Nampally lodge and the scene of the kidnapping. According to the police, the girl was lured and kidnapped in a car. "We interrogated the staff of the private lodge and got details of how they provided room to the accused. If they have violated any rule, we will book them too," the police said.

Chandrayangutta incident

In the Chandrayangutta case, the 21-year-old accused gave the Adhar card of his Major sister at the hotel reception. They pretended that they had come from outside to tour Hyderabad, said Chandrayangutta inspector K.N Prasad Varma. "We have seen in earlier cases that girls and women were kidnapped and sexually assaulted in deserted areas and outskirts of the city. Now we are receiving complaints that they are being targeted in private lodges," he added.

No proper regulations

Varsha Bhargavi, a child rights activist with a 15-year of experience in the travel industry, said private lodges have no proper regulations and they allow minor girls into rooms with strange men and boys which is against the law. It is their moral responsibility not to allow minor girls to rooms without their guardians and relatives. Apart from woman-related crimes, there are other crimes like suicides happening in such hotels which need to be stopped, she said.

Saying that there should be strict checks and measures in private lodges, Varsha said such lodges are even allowing foreign citizens to stay in the Old City without informing the police station concerned. "Many foreign citizens are involved in contract and child marriages. We only know after a victim lodges a complaint, otherwise, we do not know what is happening in these small hotels and lodges," she added.