New Delhi: Reports of the alleged rape of a college student in Lahore on Saturday have sparked outrage across Pakistan. Protests erupted this week, led by students at Punjab College for Women, demanding justice for the survivor after claims emerged on social media that the first-year student had been raped by a security guard on the college campus. While police and college officials claim that ‘no such incident occurred’, protestors say ‘the truth is being hidden’.
The situation escalated on 15 October, when hundreds of students participated in an anti-harassment rally. Demonstrators gathered outside the Punjab Assembly, holding placards demanding justice and calling for a thorough investigation into the incident and the broader issue of harassment at educational institutions.
At least 28 students have been injured in clashes with police during earlier rounds of protests, leading to heightened tensions and unrest on campuses across Lahore, Dawn reported.
Artists such as Mahira Khan, Sarwat Gillani have also condemned the alleged rape and called for action.
Punjab College Students Protest on 6th Road Rawalpindi. #Pakistan #Lahore #PakistanUnderFascism pic.twitter.com/PIqOzUxDgM
— Abdul R@him (@AbdulRahim9890) October 17, 2024
The Progressive Students’ Collective, a student organisation, has vowed to continue protests until their demands, including the urgent need for protection and justice for female students, are met.
“There is no sign of the government’s will to hold the Punjab police accountable. They are the ones who tortured, brutalised and arrested students over exercising their fundamental constitutional right. Additionally, heavy police deployment outside every Punjab college seems excessive, and shows how the Punjab Government’s top priority is to protect Mian Amir’s property, the land mafia who owns this college,” Haider Ali Butt, lawyer and member of PSC told ThePrint over a phone call.
Meanwhile, Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has dismissed the alleged rape as “fabricated news”, suggesting that it was part of a political smear campaign by Imran Khan’s party, the PTI.
As demonstrations continue, the Lahore High Court has reportedly summoned key officials, including the Inspector General of Police, to address the concerns raised regarding harassment in educational settings.
Also read: Pakistani blogger shares poem on rapes. Gets arrested for insulting Allah
What happened?
A security guard was arrested on Sunday following allegations of rape by a student at the Punjab Group of Colleges. On Monday, the Directorate of Public Instruction (Colleges), Punjab, suspended the registration of Punjab College for Women as a private college until further notice. Local reports said that at least 150 students were arrested in Rawalpindi over protests.
Speaking to ThePrint over the phone, ASP (Defence) Lahore Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi said that this is a massive case of misinformation that has snowballed into this situation. She said that on the investigation of the rape claims, the police found that no such incident had been reported in the stations or even in nearby hospitals.
Some reports also, Naqvi added, falsely claimed that the alleged victim was in ICU and later passed away, but Naqvi dismissed all of them, adding that the police had thoroughly inquired in all hospitals and police stations across Lahore—the city has 84 police stations, six in Gulberg—and none had reported any such incident.
Forensic investigation also showed that the CCTV footage from the college premises was not tampered with and the Federal Investigation Agency’s report showed that no rape had occurred and termed it a ‘misinformation’.
Naqvi said that neither the woman in question nor the security guard were present on campus on the day protesters allege the incident took place. She added that the family of the student has now asked the FIA to probe the social media disinformation campaign that led to violent protests in Lahore
Nawaz claimed that the provincial government has formed a committee to investigate the allegations and will submit a report by Saturday. However, Butt claimed that investigations are yet to commence.
Naqvi said that the report is out. She added that two committees were formed: one under the chief secretary of Punjab to ascertain the facts of the case, which said that no rape had taken place and the second under FIA to ascertain how and who spread the misinformation.
‘Whatever the report suggests, it is clear that harassment in educational institutions is rampant and lacks redressal and accountability mechanisms. This singular incident is not the only cause of rage among mobilised students and youth; rather it’s systematic violence, continuous harassment and brutal control of the authoritarian administration of educational institutions. These protests are symptoms of the larger crisis of our education system,” Butt said.
Earlier this year, a report from the Sustainable Social Development Organisation revealed that in 2023 there were 10,201 registered cases of violence against women in Pakistan under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (acts intended to insult a woman’s modesty) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). This represents a 14.5 per cent increase from the 8,787 cases reported in 2022, Dawn reported.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)