The Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) on Wednesday sought the Punjab police’s response on whether a rape incident actually unfolded at the Lovely Professional University (LPU), days after rumours of an alleged sexual assault surfaced, triggering unrest on the Phagwara campus.
The court asked the cops, “Did any rape incident take place at the institute?,” while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) related to the protest.
Furthermore, the HC directed the police to submit a status report on a post uploaded on Reddit, dated September 26, which triggered rumours about the purported sexual assault and was followed by a wave of protests, arson and loot at the institute.
LPU student files PIL, voices demand for CBI probe
The HC had been hearing the case after a student enrolled at the university, Ravi Raj, filed a PIL and sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incidents of arson and looting reported during the unrest.
However, the Punjab government told the court that a case had already been registered and that the cops were in contact with reddit to identify and trace the source of the post. The police are yet to establish whether the alleged sexual assault that triggered the rumours and the subsequent protests actually took place.
The row led to intense demonstrations at the LPU campus located in Phagwara. The agitations escalated later, and incidents of arson as well as looting were reported from the campus. Thereafter, the LPU suspended regular classes for 10 days in light of the violence.
FIR registered over NH-44 blockade
Amid the unrest, the Punjab police also registered an FIR against unidentified students and non-students over the blockade of the Delhi-Amritsar National Highway (NH) during the protests.
Snaps from the unrest which unfolded at the LPU campus
Cops from the Sadar Phagwara police station in Kapurthala district registered the FIR at 6:43 am on September 28. However, no specific person has been named in the FIR. Police went on to say that unidentified non-students had also chipped in during the protest, and their actions were videographed. They said action shall be taken against the people seen in the footage.
Protests spiralled into violence
Students enrolled at LPU staged a massive protest on Sunday and blocked a section of the Delhi-Amritsar national highway outside the campus over allegations that a female student had been raped by an outsider on the campus premises.
The protest soon took a violent turn. Students alleged that masked outsiders vandalised university property, ransacked shops and set several locations ablaze.
Separate probes have been launched into the reported violence and the allegations surrounding the alleged sexual assault. The latest proceedings which were initiated in the HC have now placed focus on whether the alleged rape took place at all and on the origins of the social media post which fuelled the unrest.