Fear grips PG residents after man stabs, murders woman in Bengaluru

The gruesome murder of a 24-year-old woman inside her paying guest
(PG) accommodation in Koramangala recently has sent shockwaves across the city.

Students and working professionals who Metrolife spoke to expressed concern about scant security measures at their PGs.

At the Indiranagar PG where Monica B (name changed) lives, the first line of defense is a glass door with a wrought iron frame. The PG’s proximity to the metro station means the area is crowded. “There are CCTV cameras on the premises, but the first floor is not very high. It would be easy for someone to scale the tree in front of the building to gain access to the first floor,” shares the 23-year-old media professional.

She adds that the balconies in the room have large glass doors, which can be easily broken into. “The owner of the PG is never around. Though inhabitants are not allowed to bring guests into their rooms, it is not
followed,” she adds.

Open ceilings

Karishma P (name changed), who lives at Crystal Rock PG in Ejipura, has faced multiple issues. “There is no security guard or biometric entry system. It would be easy for anyone to walk in,” she reveals. The PG has four floors, with six rooms on each floor.

Her ordeal began when she moved in one month ago. Though Karishma and her friends had paid an advance, their room was not ready. “It was quite dirty when we arrived,” she says. As the management refused to clean the room, the trio had to do it themselves. Eventually she also stopped eating at the PG as she and her friends contracted food poisoning from the food provided.

Before settling on this accommodation, the three friends were considering the Ejipura branch of Zolo Stays, a chain of PGs for boys and girls. A friend discouraged them from booking it.

“In her room, there was a gap in the ceiling where the fan was attached,” Karishma tells Metrolife.

Unhelpful cops

Swathi C (name changed) is concerned about an unguarded common staircase at her Indiranagar PG. The 22-year-old media professional moved to Bengaluru three weeks ago.

“The PG has three floors. It is run by a married couple who live on the ground floor. They do not feel it necessary to have a security guard,” she shares.

Bandaru Vandana Kavyanjali and other guests at an S G Palya PG have been dealing with harassment from a street hawker for a few months. The man runs a food stall near the PG.

“He often follows the girls till the PG. He gets agitated when he sees us walking with men and starts hurling abuses at us. Once he threw bottles at a friend and her brother who were inside a car,” Vandana recalls.

She was traumatised when he followed her into the PG one day. She managed to get in through the biometric entry and behind the secured glass door in time to avoid him. But he then started banging on the door. “We filed complaints with the police. They put him in jail for a day, but he was back the next day. They briefly increased their patrolling from one to two rounds, but now even that has stopped,” Vandana shares.

Cop says 

“We will review the current case and decide if we should make modifications to the existing guidelines,” says B Dayananda,
commissioner of police, Bengaluru City.

Though the cops had issued guidelines to PG owners in February,
not all the rules are being followed. According to representatives of
the Bengaluru PG Owners Association, about 60% of the PGs in the
city are being run illegally.