Protests28 September, 20262 min read
Lovely Professional University Suspends Classes After Students Clash With Police Over Alleged Rape
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Lovely Professional University suspended classes for 10 days amid campus protests in Punjab. Protests began after allegations of a campus rape, with police and campus property damage.
LPU protests turn violent
Lovely Professional University in Phagwara, Punjab suspended classes for 10 days after protests on campus over an alleged rape last week turned violent. Students gathered near Girls' Hostel 3 at LPU in the early hours of Sunday, 27 September, after social media circulated the version that a female student had been raped on campus.
Police said they were investigating the alleged incident, and Lovely Professional University registrar Monica Gulati denied the rape had taken place, saying on Sunday that there was “no truth” to the allegations. Students escalated the demonstrations on Sunday as demonstrators clashed with police, and protesters allegedly threw stones, smashed windows and set fire to vehicles on campus while also damaging police vehicles.
Videos, FIR, and SIT
Police registered a first information report against an unidentified person on rape charges based on statements recorded from students, and a Special Investigation Team was formed to investigate the case.
LPU Registrar Monica Gulati claimed that the allegation of rape on campus “appears to be a deliberate and concerted attempt to malign the reputation of the university and tarnish its image”.
Students later said the university posted a cropped version of their video without consent, and one student said, “Our video has been trimmed and posted on Instagram. We had no idea about this, and no consent was taken from us.”
Jalandhar Range Deputy Inspector General of Police Naveen Singla said forensic data, security camera footage and phone records would be examined, and he added that police had asked students’ representatives to be part of the investigation.
Traffic disruption and next steps
Students blocked National Highway-44 in Punjab, and police said traffic movement on the National Highway-44 in Punjab's Phagwara, which had been blocked by the students of Lovely Professional University for over 15 hours, has been restored. The university notice said students who wished to remain on campus during the 10-day period “are advised to remain inside their hostels/places of residence and avoid unnecessary movement or involvement in any unrest activities in the interest of their own safety”.
Punjab's Lovely Professional University postponed mid-term examinations until further notice, and the revised schedule was to be communicated separately through the University Management System (UMS). Police said the matter remained under investigation and had not yet verified the claims circulating online, while the protests continued despite several rounds of discussions with police and university officials throughout the day and the registration of the FIR.