HYDERABAD: The incident of a female student’s suicide at Sindh University’s (SU) girls’ hostel in January still rattles students, parents and society alike. At a hearing in the Sindh High Court on Thursday, advocate Ali Palh, counsel for a group of petitioners, argued that a sense of insecurity still prevailed.

He cited lax security and a lack of reforms in the facilities which ought to be instituted after the suicide as their concern. From external security and canteens inside the hostels to the cases of harassment, Palh claimed that a host of problems still affected students living in the hostel.

After hearing the petitioner’s lawyers, the bench comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Fahim Ahmed Siddiqi ordered the Hyderabad director of women development to ascertain the difficulties of staying at the hostels by reaching out to the students. The official was directed to visit all girls’ hostels at least thrice at different times of the day before presenting the report at the next hearing on September 18.