Pune University installs CCTV camera at ladies' hostel gate

Pune: Fed up of not being able to control boyfriends sneaking into womens' hostel and unauthorised entry of other visitors, Pune University officials finally put up a CCTV camera at the Savitribai Phule Girls Hostel on the campus.

Mounted at the entrance gate of the hostel, the camera footage is monitored round-the-clock by security personnel.

Amit Ursal, a former chief engineer at the university who supervised the installation of the camera, said it was meant to be a deterrent for hostel women who repeatedly broke rules.

"Though girls can't be stopped from officially getting visitors, it was noticed that some hostel inmates brought in other girls at night. They slept there and paid the inmates, but the university wasn't getting anything out of it," said Ursal.

Some students living in the hostel also repeatedly sneaked in their boyfriends or stayed out till late hours without informing the hostel officials.

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Dr Bhaskar Shejwal, head of psychology department, who is chief rector of the hostels, said that the cameras have helped in bringing down the nuisance to a great extent.

"The CCTV camera records all movements of people coming in and going out. People are scared as they know that they are being monitored, so automatically a lot of nuisance has stopped," said Shejwal. "We have been able to identify the girls that routinely come late to the hostel and violate rules."

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Pleased with the success of the CCTV camera, Shejwal said that CCTV cameras will soon be installed at other women's hostels as well.