The campus was vandalized and students blocked National Highway-44 over the claim of rape of a student.
Phagwara. Students of Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara, Punjab, vandalized the campus and blocked National Highway-44 over claims that a student was raped by an outsider in the university campus. Violence erupted again on Sunday evening when protesting students pelted stones at policemen and attacked their vehicles, injuring several policemen, officials said. A large police force led by ADGP MF Farooqui later reached the LPU campus. Police said that now the situation is under control.
On Sunday evening, the police were trying to remove the protesters who were blocking NH-44 outside the campus since 8 am when some students threw water bottles at them. The students also clashed with the police, after which the police resorted to lathicharge and the students fled towards the campus. However, officials said that after reaching the campus the students started pelting stones indiscriminately at the police. He said two police vehicles were also set on fire, while journalists and policemen were seen running here and there to escape.
College closed for 10 days
Jalandhar Rural SSP Harvinder Singh Virk said that four to five police vehicles were damaged in the violence. In view of the uproar, the Lovely Professional University (LPU) administration has suspended classes for 10 days from Monday, while mid-term examinations have been postponed till further orders.
Case registered against unknown
Police said that on the complaint of the students, a case of rape has been registered against an unknown person and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to investigate. However, the university administration has denied the incident of rape on the campus and termed it as a rumour. The incident comes a day after a massive protest by students of Patiala-based Chitkara University, where students allegedly set a police vehicle on fire over unconfirmed claims that two girl students had committed suicide.
Allegation of rape with student
The protest started around 1 am on Sunday near the girls hostel of the campus. Some students had alleged that a plumber had raped a girl student living there three days ago. He had also alleged that the hostel warden was informed about the incident, but no action was taken. However, the LPU management said in a statement that there is no truth in these rumours. Registrar Monica Gulati said that some anti-social elements are creating confusion by spreading false, baseless and fabricated allegations.
LPU claims no rape incident took place
LPU also released a video statement of three girl students living in a hostel room, in which they claimed that no such incident happened and they have been living there for the last two months. In videos that surfaced on social media, some alleged protesters, with their faces covered with handkerchiefs, were seen vandalizing shops and other campus properties in the university mall. Some other people were also seen carrying goods from the grocery shop. Damaged vehicles and demolished ATM kiosks were also seen in the video.