As protests continue over the alleged rape of a student at a Punjab College campus in Lahore, the educational institution has finally broken silence for the first time since an initial statement issued two days ago.
As per the details, a first-year student at Campus 10 of Punjab Group of Colleges in Lahore was allegedly raped by a security guard in the basement of the institution last week. With details of the alleged rape making it to social media, protests broke out in Lahore. At least 27 students were injured in a clash between the protesting students and Punjab Police.
Amid conflicting reports regarding the facts of the incident, which the government and college administration claim that it never even occurred, an official at Punjab College, on the condition of anonymity, has blamed the government for worsening the situation.
“The education minister made those statements in heat of the moment and now there is another interview of him where he is saying that both sides have contradictory version of events,” the official said while referring to Education Minister Rana Sikander Hayat who had gone to meet the protesting students on Monday and suggested that the rape really did take place.
Despite the minister backtracking on his statement later in the day, social media was flooded with unverified claims regarding the facts of the case with protesters quoting the minister and alleging a coverup at the hands of college authorities as well as the government.
“A roll call was carried of all female students of Campus 10 and we spoke to them either directly or with one of their parents. All confirmed that they were unharmed and had not been subjected to any form of violence or assault,” the Punjab College official added.
Meanwhile, another statement issued by Punjab College affirmed that the administration was reaching out to people posting regarding the incident to explain their side of the story.
“We are reaching out to people who are posting about it to make sure they know and understand what is happening,” the statement read, adding that the college had handed over CCTV footage to the police besides facilitating police access to the accused security guard for further investigation.
Shedding light on the issue of “silencing” the students and calling police to arrest them, the statement said, “Teachers tried to communicate with students, and that was perceived as students being silenced. They were allowed to protest in the campus as well but police became involved when things got out of hand.”
Punjab College administration also expressed their disappointment on social media flare over the issue, saying, “The issue has taken a life of its own on social media, and people are being harmed on the ground because of false information being shared. If anything surfaces, we will take action required on our end but nothing of the sort has happened.”
Lahore Police, on the other hand, also shared a video of ASP Sheharbano Naqvi with the father of the alleged victim, stating that his daughter was injured after a fall at home, and she was admitted to hospital after that.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has also formed a high-level seven-member committee to investigate the alleged rape of a student at the college.
The investigation committee will be chaired by Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, who has been tasked to present findings of the alleged rape incident before the CM within 48 hours.
