Phagwara/New Delhi: More than 100 hours of CCTV footage was scanned and statements recorded of hundreds of students, but Punjab Police have yet to come across any clues to the identity or whereabouts of the female student, claimed to have been raped on the Lovely Professional University (LPU) campus, ThePrint has learnt.
Since the registration of an FIR for the offence of rape, police have deployed at least half a dozen teams to analyse footage from CCTV cameras in and around the part of campus where the alleged offence is said to have taken place.
The charge of rape was added to the FIR after students staged a massive protest, both on campus as well as outside of it, even blocking National Highway-44.
The protest subsequently took a violent turn, prompting Punjab Police to use force to dispel the crowd.
DIG (Jalandhar Range) Naveen Singla told ThePrint that the police scanned CCTV footage of three days preceding the date of the alleged rape, but have yet to find any incriminating evidence. “There is a CCTV camera on each floor and we have looked into the footage of each camera of girls hostel no. 3, and have not found any incriminating evidence of any man entering the premises,” Singla said.
What began as a rumour among students—that a rape had allegedly taken place days earlier inside Girls Hostel no. 3—spiralled into a massive protest in the late hours of Saturday and early hours of Sunday. The protest turned violent Sunday evening, with protesters torching police vehicles and the police responding with a crackdown.
ThePrint earlier reported on difficulties faced by investigators probing allegations of rape, and how the probe ran into a wall even before it took off.
“We have a unique situation where we don’t have any victim of the alleged offence and neither a suspect. What we do have is a strong belief among students that the offence took place,” a Punjab Police officer told ThePrint, requesting anonymity.
The officer added that the FIR registered by the police “may well have been a first of its kind where an offence of rape was reported but with language that somebody had raped somebody, which is not the case in any sexual assault”.
A second police officer maintained that all methods with the potential to unearth leads—statements from students and hostel staff, besides examination of CCTV footage—are being pursued at an intensive pace.
On its official website, LPU says that its campus is surveilled by more than 7,400 CCTV cameras, which is more than the number of CCTV cameras at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi. “Not all cameras can be scanned, and that too in such a short span of time, but all the cameras in the vicinity and even those on the pathways connecting to the hostel have been examined,” the second officer told ThePrint.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the allegations comprises Jalandhar Rural SP (Detective) Vineet Ahlawat, Phagwara SP Major Singh, CIA Staff in-charge Balwinder Singh, and Inspector Amanpreet Kaur. “The SIT members have recorded statements of students, wardens and university authorities, and are in process of establishing the facts of the matter,” said another police officer aware of the matter.
After assessing the situation at the LPU campus, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav Monday assured students of a thorough probe into all the allegations, as well as coordination with the university administration to sort out their grievances.
“…FIR was lodged in connection with the incident, a high-level special investigation team has been formed, and a very detailed investigation will be conducted. The Police acted as a bridge between the protesting students and the university administration over certain demands and issues raised by the students, such as they wanted only women’s staff in the girls’ hostel,” DGP Yadav had said.
Referring to the protest taking a violent turn, he added, “An unfortunate incident occurred last night; under certain provocation, some elements attempted to vitiate the atmosphere and pelted stones at the police vehicle…all elements involved in violence are being scientifically and technically analysed using CCTV footage. Action will be taken against all those who took the law into their hands.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Charred buildings, broken tiles, anxious students: Inside LPU after its traumatic night of violence
The usual story of many, if not most, ‘rape’ cases.
Allegations are made by the woman but no proof is ever found.
Feminists want the judiciary to hand out punishments solely on the basis of the allegations made by the woman.