Senior directors of a Pakistan college stated on Wednesday that there was no evidence to support claims of a student being raped on campus, despite reports circulating online that led to several days of protests. The allegations, which spread through social media posts, claimed that a woman was raped in the basement of a Punjab College for Women campus in Lahore.
In response to the posts, hundreds of students, mostly male, engaged in protests that involved smashing windows and burning school buses. These demonstrations reflect a growing concern in Pakistan regarding safety, harassment, and sexual violence.
Arif Chaudry, the Lahore director of the private Punjab Group of Colleges, which operates the women’s college, was quoted by AFP during a press conference saying, “The incident does not exist. I will resign and I will leave this profession and stand with the students if the incident took place.”
Another director of the group, Agha Tahir Ijaz, urged students not to believe misinformation during the same news conference.
As the anger grew over the alleged incident, police arrested a security guard who was identified in the online posts. However, they reported that no victim had come forward and that they were unable to verify the incident.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cybercrime wing has initiated an investigation targeting individuals responsible for disseminating the information via social media channels which is now claimed to be false.
The protests, which began at two of the college’s campuses on Monday afternoon, quickly spread to several other colleges throughout the city and continued for three days and resulted in injuries to at least 28 people.
Pakistan’s Punjab CM blames PTI party
As the college denied the claims, Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab also addressed the alleged rape incident, asserting that the accusations were ‘fabricated’.
Nawaz further claimed that the political party led by Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister who is currently imprisoned, exploited the false allegation to provoke extensive student demonstrations and cause instability throughout the province.
The Punjab government has closed the college campus where the alleged rape was said to have occurred until further notice. “On social media, a factory of lies is running. PTI’s politics have sunk so low that it is exploiting tragedies for political gain,” Maryam said while warning that those responsible for spreading the false posts would face punishment. Addressing PTI founder Imran Khan, the CM added, “If politics stoops to such levels of inhumanity, then you deserve to be where you are.” She then claimed that the girl in question had suffered a back injury and had been receiving treatment in the hospital’s intensive care unit since October 2 and was not raped.