Tension erupted at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara, Punjab, at around 1-2 am on Sunday, September 27.
The story circulating via social networking sites about the sexual assault of a female student by an outsider on the campus went viral among the students residing close to the girls’ hostel.
As soon as the news became viral, protests turned violent. Students damaged window glasses, threw bricks and pots of flowers, and set fires in some buildings on the campus.
There were reports of a mall within the university being looted, cars parked on the campus being damaged or burned down, and a gym and other buildings within the university premises being robbed.
As the tensions rose, the protestors also started their protests outside the university premises.
They blocked the part of National Highway 44 connecting Jalandhar and Phagwara city, causing a jam of vehicles on the highway.
Heavy security was deployed by the police of Kapurthala, as it seemed that the private guards of the university could not control the situation.
The police have provided a rather conservative version, which differs considerably from the version presented by the students.
"An unverified case of the rape of a student was reported in the form of a viral message, which triggered agitation among students against the administration of the LPU.
Till now, no corroborative evidence has been found for this case, and we haven't received any complaint regarding this. " SSP Kapurthala Gaurav Toora
He further stated that the students have caused extensive damage to the university premises and that the police are trying to restore peace in the area.
Even as the preliminary statement from the police indicated that the event was not yet verified, things began to unfold very swiftly on that day.
The police also made it known that the FIR was filed against an unidentified individual, and the analysis of CCTV footage, forensic evidence, and telephone records will form part of the investigations.
According to DIG Jalandhar Range Naveen Singla, the police will carry out a technical investigation of the FIR, involving forensic tests, CCTV analysis, and telephone analysis, in consultation with the students.
The purported incident is claimed to have taken place in G3 hostel involving a female student who now hails back home.
Making matters even more complicated, there were multiple versions of the events reported at once on social media.
The first version claimed that an electrician assaulted a student in the GH3 hostel. The second one claimed that the university authorities were protecting one of their employees and had created a story blaming an external person for the incident.
It was also claimed that three days ago, a female student was raped by a plumber, which had not been addressed by the hostel warden. It was precisely this claim that made protesters feel that the university’s delay was well justified.
None of these claims have been independently confirmed by the police as of the most recent reports.
While holding the people involved accountable for the said assault, the protestors put forward further demands regarding hostel security.
This included the posting of only women’s staff in women’s hostels and an overall analysis of the hostel system in general.
The students planned to meet with the university administration on Sunday to discuss these demands.
The university rejected the claims and called for calm among its students.
LPU called upon students not to believe the “rumours” and stated that the campus was completely safe and secured.
It was reported by the police that the process for evaluation of the property damage is on its way and the offenders will be proceeded against legally.
The protests that LPU witnessed did not take place in isolation because a similar kind of protest had occurred the previous day at a neighboring university.
These protests came one day after protests by the students of Chitkara University in Rajpura where the students damaged a police van on the same grounds as the previous case.
This is not the first occasion when LPU has witnessed a rampage by students because of their grievances against the administrative authorities.
In one such previous incident, students resorted to vandalism after a hosteller was taken into custody for being involved in extortion, causing damage to property and obstructing the national highway outside the university gates.
In yet another previous incidence, students vented out their anger over a huge hike in fees by breaking window panes of all academic blocks.
