Violence over sexual assault claim in LPU, university denies incident

Students of Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab’s Phagwara staged a violent protest early on Sunday, damaging property, vandalising shops, setting vehicles on fire and blocking a national highway, alleging that a girl student had been sexually assaulted by an “outsider” on campus. The university denied the allegation, describing it as “baseless and fabricated rumours”.

Following the violence, LPU suspended classes for 10 days with effect from September 28. In a communication to students, the university said mid-term examinations had also been postponed until further notice. It advised those staying on campus to remain inside their hostels or places of residence, avoid unnecessary movement and refrain from participation in the ongoing unrest.

Senior police officers told The Indian Express that an FIR had been registered against an unidentified person on charges of rape, but they were unable to substantiate the allegation in preliminary investigations conducted at the location cited by the protesting students. “The three girls present in the hostel room where the sexual assault is alleged to have occurred denied that any such incident took place,” an officer said.

The police also formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by SP (Phagwara) Major Singh and comprising a DSP, a woman police inspector and student representatives, to probe the matter further.

The protesters damaged property on the campus, set some objects on fire and blocked the Jalandhar-Phagwara National Highway outside the university. (Express Photo)

The Indian Express spoke to several students at the protest site, but none could identify the alleged victim.

The unrest came barely 24 hours after Chitkara University in Patiala, around 140 km away, witnessed a protest by students who allegedly set a police vehicle afire over unverified claims of “hearing girls’ screams from the hostel”.

At LPU, the unrest began around 2 am after claims of an alleged sexual assault in a girls’ hostel were shared by the students on social media groups. The students alleged that an “outsider working as a plumber” had entered a girl’s room and sexually assaulted her three days ago, and that the warden had taken no action when the matter was reported.

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Subsequently, the students gathered near the hostel and moved towards the university’s main entrance. The protest escalated, with students damaging campus property and setting fire to furniture, motorcycles and ambulances. Several shops in the university mall also suffered damage. A protesting student even climbed atop a decommissioned MiG-23UM aircraft installed on campus, while a few others mounted a decommissioned military tank placed at the gate.

The protesters damaged property on the campus and set some objects on fire. (Express Photo)

Around 4 am, the protesters blocked a stretch of the Delhi-Amritsar NH-44 outside the campus, leading to a traffic jam. The highway was later cleared by the police, which resorted to a lathicharge at one point after they were pelted with stones and their vehicles targeted.

The protesters had initially said they would call off the agitation once an FIR was registered. But several rounds of talks between the protesting students and the LPU management remained inconclusive, even though Vice Chancellor Jaspal Singh Sandhu assured that the grievances would be addressed.

The students insisted that LPU Founder-Chancellor Ashok Mittal, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP who switched from the AAP in April, come to the protest site and assure them their issues would be resolved. They also demanded an apology from the Pro-Vice Chancellor, justice for the alleged victim and action against anyone found responsible. Besides, they wanted the University Management System, which grants them access to all varsity activities, not be blocked, and that they not be victimised for the protest.

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The other demands included stronger security in girls’ hostels, male staff not being deployed in areas where girl students reside, greater accountability of hostel officials and action against university officials if negligence is established. Some protesters sought the resignation of the hostel warden, too. LPU has more than 35,000 students from India and abroad.

DIG (Jalandhar Range) Naveen Singla said, “The FIR has been registered on charges of rape against the unidentified suspect. The matter will be investigated scientifically, and forensic, CCTV and phone data will be examined. We have asked students’ representatives to be part of our investigation. We will unearth the truth.”

V-C Sandhu said, “The police have registered an FIR and the university is fully cooperating with the investigation. So far, no such incident has come to my notice. We will provide all CCTV footage, anything the police want. The SIT that has been constituted also has student representatives as its members.”

An LPU spokesperson described the allegation of sexual assault as “false and fabricated”. It appears to be a “deliberate and concerted attempt to malign the reputation of the university and tarnish its image”, the spokesperson said. Registrar Dr Monica Gulati said “anti-social elements and others were creating the problem”, and urged students, parents and the public not to circulate unverified information.

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The LPU also released a video statement purportedly of three students from the room where the incident was alleged to have taken place. The video showed them saying they had been staying in the room for the past two months and no such incident had taken place.

DIG Singla said the police were also examining the circumstances surrounding the death of another LPU woman student from Telangana who allegedly died by suicide around 15 days ago. “In that incident, the student’s mobile phone was seized and has been sent for forensic examination. If any foul play comes to fore, required legal action shall be taken,” he said.