A Call for Justice, Accountability, and Systemic Change
Students of Punjab College Lahore are protesting against the toxic college culture where a rape incident has been reported recently. In the alleged report, a female student of 17 years, was said to have been raped in the basement of the college on October 11th, 2024.
The alleged victim was sought medical care and was in critical condition as a security guard was taken into custody on the incident. Nevertheless, these claims have been dismissed by the Punjab government and the college management, who asserted that the matter is a hoax and a political game plan.
This particular case has also brought out tensions in the society, with many students demanding justice to the victim or better yet, denouncing the injustice altogether. Eventually, the government responded to the situation in a more drastic way and imposed Section 144 which bans all public meetings and the mobilization of the army to maintain peace.
This incident spotlights the problem of gender-based violence in Pakistan and the issues with access to justice for the survivors. It further makes one ponder how social media enables the dissemination of false information and encourages unrest.
Students in Pakistan continue protests against alleged Lahore campus rape
Demonstrators are out in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore for the third consecutive day protesting reports of a rape on a college campus.
Yesterday, students staged an antiharassment rally as part of Tuesday’s demonstrations that came a day after protests were held on two campuses of the college that has since been shut down by the provincial government. At least 28 students were injured in clashes with police on Monday.
Protests erupted in Lahore yesterday after reports on social media that a student had been gang-raped by a security guard at a Punjab College for Women campus spread like wildfire.
Reports of the alleged assault first surfaced over the weekend on social media. Varying accounts state that the rape took place either Thursday or Friday evening in a basement campus facility.
The institution reports that the victim hasn’t been identified since no one has lodged a formal complaint, and no incident was reported to the police and fake information spread online.
On Monday, the police also asserted that reports of rape on social media were “false”, but then stated a guard had been charged with rape, was in custody, and an investigation is underway.
On Tuesday, again the police appealed for people with “any information related to the alleged rape” in Lahore to contact authorities immediately.
Moreover, on Tuesday, the headmaster of the Punjab Group of Colleges said that CCTV footage was checked in relation to the incident and found nothing.
“We ourselves went to several police stations, but no case was reported,” Agha Tahir Ijaz was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper. He added that CCTV footage were shared with the police.
The Progressive Students Collective, which arranged Tuesday’s protest, wanted the committee be composed of independent human rights organizations, students and judges.
Apart from conducting an inquiry into the alleged rape, they have also demanded the committee investigate violence that erupted during Monday’s rallies and harassment at Lahore Women’s College.
Students vowed they would keep protesting until safety was brought back to the college campuses.
“Even if it takes a month, we will continue to come here,” said Adeel, an 18-year-old student from a nearby college who joined Monday’s protest. “Shut the campus down. Hang that guard here.”
Punjab’s state counsel on Friday informed Lahore High Court ( LHC ) that students, who had claimed a college student in Lahore was raped, “had no evidence” to prove it.
There had been reports circulating online in a report last week on alleged rape of a student by the private college which warranted that police had arrested one of the security guards assigned there.
Outraged over the purported incident, students vented out on social media and carried protests outside different colleges in Lahore during the past couple of days and left at least 28 injured on Monday. The protests extended to other parts of Punjab as well, as more than 380 protesters against the purported incident were taken into police custody in Rawalpindi.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz termed the “alleged rape was ‘fabricated news”. She also attributed the role of PTI for bringing out “fake reports on social media”. Director Agha Tahir and others office-holders of PGC have termed the episode “baseless”.
In a double challenge, the Punjab government has banned all public gatherings for two days in the face of a possible agitation by the PTI and students’ protest today with Section 144 imposed across the province.
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is a legal provision that grants district administrations the power to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited time. It is usually imposed for preventing potential disturbances, maintaining law and order, and curbing any activities that might result in violence.
All public and private educational institutions in the state of Punjab will remain closed today as well.
LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum on Monday continued the hearing of a petition filed earlier this week about the alleged harassment of the female students in Punjab’s education institutions.
The LHC court summoned IG Punjab Dr Usman Anwar and Advocate General Punjab Khalid Ishaq today. “Every student says that the assault was occurred but no one has proof,” Ishaq further said in the court.
During the hearing, Justice Neelum frowned at the Punjab IG for having failed to stop videos on different matters from spreading, saying it was his “failure” students hit the streets.
The LHC chief justice then decided that the matter of harassment of students and a separate ongoing case of Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari’s fake videos be clubbed together and heard by a full bench on October 22.
Meanwhile, the Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crime Wing conducted province-wide raids yesterday for the arrest of some senior journalists, lawyers, and TikTokers, arresting three of them for allegedly spreading false information on social media regarding the incident.
A case was lodged in the light of an inquiry conducted by the cyber crime wing of FIA (Lahore) on the complaint of Punjab College for Women Principal Sadia Yousuf.
High Court Lahore hearing
At the beginning of the hearing, Justice Neelum asked IG Anwar, “Why were the videos not prevented from spreading [on social media]? Did you approach any authority to stop the videos [from being spread]?
The Punjab police chief said he had approached the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The chief justice then noted that the videos went viral on October 13 and 14, remarking: “You wake up when the fire has been set alight when everything has been burned.”
Did you contact the relevant authorities very late?”, she asked, to which the Punjab IG replied that more than 700 accounts were involved in sharing the videos. He stressed that the police “only have one agency to oversee cybercrime”.
“IG sahib, this is your failure that you let the children take to the streets,” Justice Neelum observed.
She pressed for the Punjab police chief to explain what the police had been doing on October 14 and 15, drawing attention to the fact that some videos were still available on X and TikTok sites.
“The documents you have submitted [show] you did nothing for two days and started work on October 16,” observed the chief justice. “If there’s a will, all work gets done.”
Defending himself, Punjab IG said, “It is not easy to stop the data from being uploaded”, pointing out that police force could not prevent this.
“It is being posted from one account. We stop it from one account, and it starts to be reposted from another,” IG Anwar lamented.
Here, the chief justice questioned Punjab’s advocate general that “if something [unfortunate] had happened to the girls who took to the streets, who would have been responsible?.”
The advocate general briefed the court, “An Instagram post on October 12 said that the rape of a girl had taken place in a private college. The SSP (senior superintendent of police) reached the campus concerned the same day and began investigating.”.
“The first-year students have their own WhatsApp groups, which are not controlled by anyone. The Instagram post was shared in every group but no one knew what had happened,” he added.
At this juncture, the Punjab IG narrated that more than 700 social media accounts had been identified by the police. He said his team had remarked that even England “did not have the power to stop uploading” content. At this, Justice Neelum interjected with him not mentioning England as a comparative example.
“We spoke to the interior ministry and wrote them letters,” IG Anwar said, adding that the PTA had the authority to shut down accounts sharing the videos.
“We had started working according to the authority we have. We identified some accounts [but] they have not yet been deleted,” he contended.
Justice Neelum repeated that all work could be done if there was “intention”, to which the police chief retorted: “Of course, we had the intention.”
So, here, the Punjab advocate general said the assistant superintendent of police (ASP) of the area met the principal of the alleged college and checked the CCTV footage.
“Every student is saying that the assault took place but no one had any evidence,” Ishaq told the court. He added that students from other campuses also reached the college and “everything happened in an organised manner” .
The lawyer recalled that CM Maryam had formed a special committee to probe the matter after the protesters turned to “vandalism”.
“No rape victim came forward till Monday,” said Ishaq adding that there were “rumours that the alleged rape took place on October 9 or 10”.
Advocate general told the bench that a girl received treatment at the Lahore General Hospital on October 2, after which she went to a private hospital on October 4. The girl, he added, remained admitted in the hospital’s intensive care unit for five days.
“Since the girl was not coming to the college, someone claimed that they have found the rape victim. On the basis that she was not coming to college, she was linked with the rumour.”
“I can arrange your meeting with this girl if you say so,” Ishaq offered.
The advocate general then apprised the court that a “man who calls himself a lawyer made a video referring to these girls.” The man was acquitted from a case by a magistrate, he added.
Ishaq continued: “There is a new practice of acquittal from cases; whoever we arrest becomes a hero the next day”.
“We may not be able to determine what is going to happen on Sunday,” he further said. The advocate general asserted: “We are not saying that it happened systematically, but opportunists took advantage of it when it did happen. “
The chief justice then decided that the current petition and Bokhari’s case regarding her fake videos be clubbed together and heard by a full bench.
“A full bench will hear these cases on Tuesday (October 22),” Justice Neelum said. Later, in a court order, she was joined by fellow justices Farooq Haider and Ali Zia Bjawa to make up the bench.
She also issued directives to the FIA director general to probe the recent incidents and summoned him in person on the next hearing.
As the matter of sensitivity relates to the social issue of fake news spread and is relevant to female students of colleges and universities, it is to be treated with care and caution. This court is always concerned about the safety of female students. The investigating agencies are directed to complete their investigation using modern techniques without harassing anyone,” the order said.
It added: “If the FIA team needs to take/record statements of the students, the same should be taken in the presence of the vice-chancellor, registrar and her/their parents, and students should not be forced to make any statement without their will.”. If anyone has direct information and wants to make a statement or is aware of the facts relating to the above three cases, they can also appear before the authorities or FIA, and the authorities or FIA are bound to record the statement. It is also made clear that no one should be forced to make any statement.
Inquiry report findings
Meanwhile, the seven-member inquiry committee formed by the Punjab government to probe into the matter submitted its report and concluded no such incident occurred.
Committee report, available with Dawn.com, disclosed that news of the alleged rape was fabricated and spread through fake social media accounts to stir unrest and provoke a law-and-order situation.
Using social media to spread “false information misleading innocent students into protests”.
According to the report, the malicious actors with vested interests exploited the situation to advance their political agendas.”
The committee was worried about the manipulation of students and the disruption caused by the spread of disinformation”.
This inquiry highlighted the “psychological and social damage” it inflicted on the alleged victim and her family, stating that the “fabricated news tarnished their reputation and caused immense trauma.”
The committee recommended that the government provide adequate support to the distressed family so as to help alleviate its suffering.
The report criticized the college management for mishandling the issue in a rather amateurish manner, citing lack of proper systems and protocols to handle such incidents.
The committee seized the opportunity to praise the police for its “prompt action in investigating the false news and securing evidence”. However, it suggested that SOPs be drawn up by the police for handling similar incidents that might occur in educational institutions in the future.
It found a pattern of “targeted disinformation aimed at destabilising public order”. It urged the Punjab government to take stern legal measures in dealing with the misbegotten use of social media and prosecute those spreading false information.
The report urged the government to “create a framework to combat disinformation, educate students about dangers of fake news” and build capacity of law enforcement to manage such situations without resorting to violence. Further investigation into digital hate speech and terrorism was also called for.
