Hostile hostels and prison-like PGs: women’s safety under siege in Hyderabad Premium

Safety concerns for women professionals in Hyderabad's PG accommodations highlight the urgent need for reform and accountability.

For 26-year-old M. Shalini, the choice between working from home and the office is not just about convenience; it is also about safety. After a hectic Monday at her office housed in a gleaming corporate tower in Hyderabad’s Gachibowli, she dreads the next day at her paying guest (PG) accommodation, where unease lurks behind every door and window.

At home, privacy is a luxury, and she is reduced to walking on eggshells. “We feel conscious even about opening our windows,” she says. “Whenever I work from home, I avoid stepping into the corridor or interacting with anyone. The men from the PG across the street stare, pass lewd comments, and even peer through cracks in the window glass. It is unsettling. I feel much safer at the office.”

The unease doesn’t end indoors. Outside, a more insidious threat follows her. For the past six months, a young man from the neighbourhood has been stalking her — tracking her routine, watching her even in daylight. When she reported the matter to the hostel management, their response was cold and dismissive: “This is none of our concern”.

A software professional at a multinational company, Shalini has spent the past year and a half in Indira Nagar, Gachibowli, an area packed with PGs and hostels but lacking in security. Her five-storey building houses over 100 women, but there is no one to turn to for safety concerns. “Recently, a supervisor was hired, but his role is limited to managing food, electricity and plumbing issues.”

After repeated demands from residents, a common night watchman was assigned — one for four to five PGs. “He locks the main doors and then goes off to sleep. If there is an emergency, we cannot rely on him. It takes him forever to respond,” says Shalini, one of hundreds of women navigating daily anxieties in spaces meant to offer safety.

Hyderabad, India’s booming IT hub, is drawing young professionals from across the country, with women forming a significant part of this workforce. But as PGs and hostels multiply to accommodate them, safety concerns, poor regulation, and exploitative living conditions are on the rise. For many women living away from home for the first time, professional ambition comes with an unsettling trade-off — the constant negotiation of personal safety.

HITEC City, spanning Madhapur, Gachibowli, Kondapur and Kukatpally, is a hub of IT giants, startups financial firms and elite institutions, fuelling a booming PG and hostel network. Yet, beneath the sleek skyline and rapid growth lies a quieter, unsettling reality.