Lahore students stage anti-harassment rally against alleged campus rape

The Progressive Students Collective (PSC) held an anti-harassment rally on Tuesday, a day after 28 students were injured in clashes with a college’s security team and then with the police in Lahore during a protest against the alleged on-campus rape of a girl.

On Sunday, a security guard was arrested after news related to the incident went viral on social media. According to a police statement, the suspect had been arrested and an investigation was underway.

It, however, added that a first information report (FIR) of the incident had not been registered as the family members of the victim had not come forward to lodge it.

The Punjab government also formed a “high-powered” committee to probe the incident. A notification issued by the CM Office said the chief secretary would head the committee, which also included the advocate general and secretaries of home, higher education, special education, and healthcare departments.

Separately, Punjab police, in a post on X, said that if anyone had “any information regarding the alleged rape” in Lahore, they should “immediately inform the authorities via by either calling 15 or through the Women Safety App.

“The name of the whistleblower will be kept confidential,” the police said.

Enraged by the alleged incident, students mobilised on social media and staged protests outside different colleges in the city on Monday. During one of the protests, clashes broke out between the protesters and the security team of a college. Later on, the students also clashed with the police, with both clashes resulting in casualties.

According to a statement issued by Rescue 1122, a clash broke out between security personnel and students at the Hafeez Centre Punjab College Campus.

On Tuesday, the PSC held a rally from Government College University to Punjab Assembly. In a statement on X this morning, the group had called demonstrators to join the protest at 10:30am.

The rally demanded a probe into yesterday’s violence on students, the Punjab College rape case, and incidents of harassment at Lahore Women’s College. They called for the formation of a committee comprising independent human rights organisations, student representatives, and judges.

They also demanded that an anti-harassment committee be formed on various campuses and representation of students, especially one female student, should be ensured.

The rally’s third demand was that an awareness campaign be started on laws and procedures related to harassment, with awareness guidelines included in the curriculum,

‘No CCTV footage of incident found’

The director of the Punjab Group of Colleges, Agha Tahir Ijaz, addressed the alleged rape incident in a video statement on Tuesday.

“We checked the CCTV records but did not find anything. We ourselves went to several police stations but no case was reported there,” he said.

“Police took with them all our CCTV records,” he went on to say, adding that the college made phone calls to several students who were on leave, either for illness or for other purposes.

A hospital was named on social media, we checked several hospitals but could not find anything, the director said.

Students asked for camera footage, all recordings are with the police, he added.

“Students said the door to the basement was shut at the time of the alleged rape incident, but there are no doors at the basement of the Gulberg campus,” the director said. “The basement has an open entrance as vehicles are parked there.”

He noted that the police had called in a security guard who was on leave and is still in custody. “The only purpose of arresting the guard was because of his mention on social media.”

We did not stop anyone from protesting, only the rioters, he said.

“No girl or family has been identified on social media,” the director said.

Meanwhile, a statement from a spokesperson for the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said the watchdog’s cybercrime wing for Lahore constituted a seven-member committee to probe what it said was the spread of “disinformation” related to the alleged incident.

It said the branch had begun identifying those involved and was taking action against them.

Case filed in LHC against alleged harassment in educational institutions

A citizen of Lahore, Azam Butt, filed an application in the Lahore High Court against the alleged incidents of harassment across educational institutions.

The alleged suicide of a girl at Punjab University was brought to light. The petition mentioned that female students had protested against harassment at a local government university, as well as protests against the alleged on-campus rape.

“Incidents of harassment of female students have been reported in various Punjab educational institutions. No action has been taken by the Punjab government over these incidents,” the petition stated.

“Protection of female students is the responsibility of the Punjab government,” the petition said.

It requested the court to order an investigation into the incidents of harassment. “The court should order the Punjab government to ensure the safety of female students.”