Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara, Punjab, has been shut for 10 days after a student protest over an alleged rape in a girls' hostel escalated into violence on September 27.
The allegation remains unverified. Punjab Police have registered a rape case against unidentified persons and formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT). LPU has denied that the alleged incident took place and has described the claims circulating on social media as rumours. The police investigation is continuing.
What triggered the LPU protests?
The immediate trigger was a message circulating among students and on social media alleging that a female student staying at Girls' Hostel-3 had been raped by a plumber or other male worker around three days before the protests.
The message also alleged that the hostel warden had been informed but that no action was taken. Students began gathering near the hostel in the early hours of September 27 and demanded an investigation and action against those allegedly responsible.
According to police, the allegations were raised by students during the protests and a rape FIR was subsequently registered. No accused has been identified so far.
Police have said they will examine forensic evidence, CCTV footage and call records before reaching a conclusion. An SIT has been constituted to investigate the allegation.
What did LPU say?
The university denied that the alleged rape had occurred.
LPU Registrar Monica Gulati called the allegations false and fabricated and described them as a deliberate attempt to malign the university. Vice-Chancellor Jaspal Singh Sandhu said no such incident had been brought to his notice.
The university also urged students not to rely on unverified social media information.
On September 29, LPU Pro Chancellor Rashmi Mittal addressed students and said the university had a zero-tolerance approach towards such incidents. She questioned why students had acted on a social media claim without first approaching the university.
“You believed in this one rumor and then completely believed and gathered together and all those things happened,” she said.
She added: “We cannot be believing social media blindly. We have to be mature enough to understand what is right and what is wrong.”
How did the protest turn violent?
What began as a protest near the girls' hostel spread across the campus and eventually to NH-44, the highway connecting Jalandhar and Phagwara.
Students blocked the highway for more than 15 hours. By Sunday evening, the situation had escalated into clashes with police, stone-pelting, vandalism and arson. Police vehicles were set on fire and parts of the university were damaged.
Videos from the campus showed protesters damaging property and climbing onto a decommissioned MiG-23 aircraft installed on the university premises. Shops at the campus's Uni Mall were also vandalised and, according to reports, some were looted.
Punjab Police later deployed more than 2,000 personnel to secure the campus. A flag march was conducted and the highway was eventually reopened.
Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said police had initially taken a restrained approach because students were involved.
“The police had made a conscious decision not to use force against students as they are like our children and instead acted as a bridge between students and the university administration,” he said.
Police have said those responsible for arson and vandalism will face action.
What is the status of the rape allegation?
The allegation has not been established.
Police registered the FIR after students raised the complaint, but investigators have not publicly identified a victim or an accused. Police have continued examining CCTV footage, phones, forensic material and call records.
Five student representatives have also been included in the SIT, which is headed by Phagwara SP Major Singh. The team includes police officers and CCTV experts.
The Punjab State Women Commission has separately sought a report from the district authorities and police on the alleged incident.
What about the death of another LPU student?
During the protests, students also raised the death of a 21-year-old student from Telangana, identified in reports as Laxmi Chandra, a BTech Agriculture student.
She died after falling from the seventh floor of a girls' hostel on September 10, around two weeks before the protests. Police said the circumstances of her death were being investigated and her mobile phone had been sent for forensic examination.
Police have not established a connection between her death and the rape allegation.
The issue, nevertheless, has became part of the students' demands. To investigate the earlier cases involving sexual assault and deaths on campus. Students also demanded women-only staff in girls' hostels, the resignation of the warden of Hostel-3 and greater student representation in university decision-making.
Why did the university shut for 10 days?
On September 28, LPU announced a 10-day suspension of regular classes and postponed its mid-term examinations until further notice.
Students were allowed to leave campus after consulting their parents or guardians. The university also advised those remaining on campus to stay inside their hostels or residences and avoid unnecessary movement.
Around 14,000 students had left for home by Monday, according to Punjab Police.
Mobile internet services were also suspended in a three-to-four-kilometre area around the university during the unrest. Police said the measure was intended to prevent the circulation of unverified information while the situation remained tense.
Why has social media become central to the investigation?
The sequence at LPU began with a social media message, than publicly established finding by the police or university.
The claim spread rapidly before authorities had established whether the alleged assault had taken place. Punjab Police have asked people not to circulate or believe unverified information, while the university has also urged students to use its formal grievance channels.
The LPU unrest also came shortly after protests at Chitkara University in Patiala, where students had gathered over unverified social media claims concerning two female students. Police said they found no evidence of a suicide or missing students in that case. The two incidents are being investigated separately, although police are examining similarities in how the rumours spread and escalated.
There was also speculation about outsiders being involved in the LPU violence. Police have said some outsiders did participate in the unrest, but they separately clarified that people carrying walkie-talkies who had been described as possible outsiders were actually Indian Army personnel who had come to collect an Army officer's ward from the campus.
For now, the central allegation remains unresolved. The police investigation will determine whether the alleged assault occurred, while a separate investigation is underway into the vandalism, arson and clashes that followed. LPU remains under heavy security as students stay away from campus during the 10-day academic suspension.
