How a rape rumour sent an Indian university into turmoil and emptied hostels

**How a rape rumour plunged an Indian university into chaos and cleared its hostels**

Some violent protesters allegedly set police cars on fire on the highway on Sunday.

One of India’s biggest private universities has suspended classes after an unverified claim that a female student was raped on campus triggered protests that turned violent.

Police say they have filed a case and are working to confirm whether last week’s alleged rape at Lovely Professional University (LPU) actually took place. The university has firmly denied the accusation.

According to police, no student has come forward saying she was assaulted, investigators have not yet identified the alleged victim or the accused, and CCTV footage reviewed so far has shown no sign of an attack.

Still, rumours spreading through student WhatsApp groups sparked unrest over the weekend at the vast 600-acre campus in Punjab, which attracts students from India and overseas.

Established in 2005 by a family whose business started with a small sweet shop, LPU has expanded into a largely self-contained community of hostels and lecture halls, with thousands of young people living there.

Photos and videos showed vehicles burning, crowds occupying a major highway and police using canes as the disorder spread beyond the university gates. Police vehicles were damaged, officers were injured and parts of the campus were vandalised.

By Monday, the highway had reopened and the campus was calmer, though still under heavy police watch.

University officials called the social media claims false and baseless, but that did little to calm students, with hostels emptying within hours. Major exams were postponed and students were allowed to return home.

After demands from protesting students, police registered a rape case against "an unidentified person" and set up a seven-member special investigation team, or SIT, to look into it.

Lovely Professional University has suspended classes for 10 days amid violent protests

The unrest began in the early hours of 27 September, when reports spread that a female student had been raped in or near one of the university’s hostels a few days earlier.

The suspect was described in different ways — by students and in media reports — as a plumber, painter or construction worker. Some students said the assault happened on 23 September and accused the university of failing to respond after being told.

BBC Punjabi found that messages about the allegation had been circulating in WhatsApp groups. As they spread, crowds gathered.

Hundreds eventually poured onto National Highway 44, a major route linking Delhi and Punjab, blocking traffic for more than 15 hours. By Sunday evening, university property had been damaged, items had been set on fire and stones had been thrown at police vehicles. Videos showed police hitting protesters with canes, although police later denied carrying out a baton-charge.

Inside the gates, students described a night of fear.

"We were sitting with knives and scissors," Arya, a student, told BBC Punjabi. She said students had been told to lock themselves in their rooms while people knocked on their doors. "We were just thinking that somehow this night would pass and we would get out of here."

Police later arrived and made them feel safer, she said. By the next day, she wanted to leave. "Our parents also want us to just get out of here."

Arya, a student at the college, says they thought about nothing but leaving the campus on the night of violence

That was also one of the protesters’ main demands.

"The students have been demanding that an FIR [First Information Report] is to be registered, but the students could not provide us with any victim's name," senior police official Naveen Singla told the BBC.

Police nonetheless filed an FIR under India’s rape law against an unidentified person. An FIR formally records an allegation for investigation; it does not prove a crime occurred.

Singla said investigators had also started reviewing CCTV footage. The initial check, he told the BBC, had so far shown no outsider entering a room.

"As of now, it can't be verified that rape has happened or not," he said.

But the footage review is continuing.

"The campus is quite large, so we haven't been able to see all the cameras yet," Sinha told reporters on Monday. "We have initially checked the places that the students had mentioned, but we will get to the bottom of this."

Protesting students had earlier blocked a nearby highway, which was reopened later on Monday

It is hard to say. What started as a rape allegation quickly grew into a wider protest over security, the university’s response and, eventually, the violence itself.

There was also increasing uncertainty about who was on campus. Some students insisted the demonstrations had begun peacefully and blamed outsiders for at least some of the violence. Others told BBC Punjabi they had seen masked or unfamiliar people inside the university.

"We were really scared," said Pawan, a student. "It became a complete battlefield."

Another student, Aniket Singh, said outsiders had entered a women’s hostel and knocked on doors while claiming to be police officers. Police have since confirmed that outsiders were among the crowds, but said they were still trying to determine who they were and what role they played.

In the confusion, the university’s effort to dismiss the rape allegation created a controversy of its own.

On Monday, LPU released a video of three women living in the hostel room linked to the alleged assault. They said nothing had happened there and asked people to stop disturbing them.

The same students later claimed in another video that university officials had told them what to say, edited the recording and posted it without their consent. Those claims have not been independently verified. LPU has not commented on the students’ allegations.

Another claim circulating during the protests tried to link the alleged rape to the recent suicide of a female LPU student from Telangana state. Police say investigations into her death had already started and there is no verified evidence connecting the two cases.

There is heavy police presence around the university campus since the unrest

For now, campus life has been disrupted. Regular classes have been suspended for 10 days and exams postponed. Students have been asked to go home after speaking with their parents or guardians.

Those who remain have been told to stay in their residences and avoid further unrest.

The Punjab State Women’s Commission has also asked for the FIR, details of the investigation and information about safety arrangements for students.

The investigation now has two separate questions to answer: whether there is evidence of the assault that sparked the protests, and who was behind the violence that followed?

Speaking to students on Monday, LPU pro-chancellor Rashmi Mittal said she was hurt that, despite the university’s many channels for students to raise concerns, they had instead "believed the rumour that was spreading". She also alleged that outsiders had joined the unrest.

"I feel students can't do this," she said.