LPU Phagwara: A Rape Rumour Sends an Indian University into Turmoil and Empties Hostels
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How an Alleged Rape Sent an Indian University into Turmoil and Emptied Hostels
Image source: Pardeep Sharma/BBC
Image caption: Some violent protesters allegedly torched police cars parked on the highway on Sunday.
By Zoya Mateen & Azadeh Moshiri
BBC News, Delhi
Published 8 hours ago
One of India's largest private universities has suspended classes after an unverified allegation that a female student was raped on campus set off protests that descended into violence.
Police say they have registered a case and are trying to verify whether last week's alleged rape at Lovely Professional University (LPU) did happen. The university has categorically denied the allegation.
Police say no student has come forward to say she was assaulted, investigators have yet to identify the alleged victim or the perpetrator, and CCTV footage examined so far has yielded no evidence of an attack.
But rumours on student WhatsApp groups led to unrest over the weekend at the sprawling 600-acre university in Punjab that draws students from India and abroad.
Founded in 2005 by a family whose business began with a small sweet shop, LPU has grown into a largely self-contained world of hostels and lecture halls, with thousands of young people living on campus.
Images and videos showed vehicles in flames, crowds filling a major highway, and police wielding canes as unrest spilled beyond the university gates. Police vehicles were damaged, officers injured, and parts of the campus vandalised.
By Monday, the highway had reopened and the campus was calmer, but heavily policed.
University authorities described the claims circulating on social media as false and baseless, but it did little to reassure students with hostels emptying within hours. Key exams were postponed and students were allowed to go home.
Following demands from protesting students, police registered a rape case against "an unidentified person" and formed a seven-member special investigation team (SIT) to investigate.
Image source: Pardeep Sharma/BBC
Image caption: Lovely Professional University has suspended classes for 10 days amid violent protests.
What happened?
The unrest began in the early hours of 27 September, when word spread that a female student had been raped in or near one of the university's hostels a few days earlier.
The suspect was variously described - by students and in media reports - as a plumber, painter, or construction worker. Some students said the assault had occurred on 23 September and accused the university of failing to act after being informed.
BBC Punjabi found that messages about the allegation had circulated through WhatsApp groups. As they travelled, crowds gathered.
Hundreds eventually spilled onto National Highway 44, a major route between Delhi and Punjab, blocking traffic for more than 15 hours.
By Sunday evening, university property had been damaged, objects set alight, and stones thrown at police vehicles. Videos showed police striking protesters with canes, although police later denied carrying out a baton-charge.
Behind the gates, students described a night of fear.
"We were sitting with knives and scissors," Arya, a student, told BBC Punjabi. Students had been told to lock themselves inside their rooms, she said, while people knocked on their doors. "We were just thinking that somehow this night would pass and we would get out of here."
Police later arrived and made them feel safer, she said. By the next day, she wanted to leave. "Our parents also wanted us to go."