Girls hostel baffled over disappearing undergarments

Friday, August 29, 2008
Girls hostel baffled over disappearing undergarments
Experts say the tendency to steal undergarments is a kind of deviant sexual behaviour
Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara
It is not unusual to hear of hostel residents stealing the money, books and stationary of fellow students staying at the hostel but it is rare indeed to come across instances of the thief showing a fondness for the undergarments. MS University of Vadodara has some students staying at its girls hostel who steal not only money, food, watch and jewellery of fellow residents but also their undergarments. Sometime back, a girl student staying at the university hostel was found in possession of missing money and undergarments belonging to other students. Mallika Singh, a sociology student who stays in the girls hostel, said, “All residents of the hostel can enter each others room because each room is usually shared by three-four girls. So it is difficult to keep watch for potential thieves.” Pooja Ranawat, a commerce student staying in the same hostel, said, “Ever since undergarments started disappearing from the rooms, we have been keeping an eye for responsible students. We have also started keeping our belongings locked in cupboards. Girls are now even locking up their rooms with a separate key for each room-mate.” Indrani Chatterji is a psychology student who stays in the same hostel as Mallika and Pooja. She has tried to assess the psychological reasons behind girls stealing the undergarments of fellow hostel inmates. “Girls who steal even undergarments are addicted to the act of stealing. The urge to steal may have deep roots in the psychology of the individual. They do feel guilty when caught but they are unable to give up the habit of stealing,” she said. Some victims of the thieves, however, say the girls, when caught, say they are kleptomaniacs simply to gain sympathy and be let off without punishment. Psychoanalysts, however, insist that there are deeper reasons for the pathological behaviour of some girls. “It is a kind of deviant sexual behaviour. People exhibiting this behaviour derive strange satisfaction from wearing other peoples undergarments. It is much more common among men. Men exhibiting such behaviour tend to steal the undergarments of women,” a Vadodara-based expert explained. Dr Rashmi Vyas is a psychiatrist who was a resident of the hostel during her days as a medical student. “One of the reasons for girls stealing the undergarments of other girls could be poverty. It is possible that the thief has a craving for expensive undergarments which she is unable to buy herself. She, therefore, steals what she cannot buy,” Vyas said. On the other hand, Dr Anjuli Verma, head of the department of psychology, MS University, said girls sometimes get addicted to the act of stealing but, in many cases, “it is the symptom of a psychological disorder that has sexual underpinnings”.