Violent protests erupted at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Jalandhar late Saturday after unverified social media claims alleging that a female student had been raped and later died by suicide spread across the campus.
Protesting students damaged university property, smashed window panes and allegedly set parts of buildings on fire. They also blocked the Delhi-Amritsar national highway outside the university around 4am, demanding that an FIR be registered against the alleged accused.
However, police said no complaint related to such an incident had been received in recent days, while the university dismissed the claims as false and fabricated.
Police deploy forces from three districts
Kapurthala Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Toora said police personnel from Jalandhar Rural, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala were deployed after the control room received information about a law-and-order situation on the campus around 2am.
According to Toora, students damaged university property during the unrest. He said further action would be taken after an assessment of the damage.
The SSP also said vehicular traffic on the national highway had been restored and that police and the civil administration had begun communicating with the university management to address the students’ concerns.
Police said the protests were triggered by rumours that a female student had been raped and subsequently died by suicide.
Toora said the Kapurthala police had not received any complaint concerning such an incident in recent days.
LPU calls claims ‘false and baseless’
Lovely Professional University denied the allegations and said false claims were being circulated through social media and other channels.
LPU Registrar Monica Gulati said the rumours were creating confusion among students and attempting to disturb the university’s academic environment.
The university also said the circulation of the claims appeared to be a deliberate attempt to damage its reputation.
LPU urged students, parents and members of the public not to believe or amplify unverified information and asked them to rely on official communication from the university.
Students seek investigation
According to the police, protesting students said their requests for a detailed investigation into the reports had not been adequately addressed at the university level.
Authorities have since initiated communication with the university management. The police are also assessing the property damage caused during the unrest.
The alleged rape and suicide incident itself remains unsubstantiated, with police saying no related complaint had been received.
Chitkara University faced similar unrest
The LPU protests came a day after similar unrest at Chitkara University near Rajpura in Patiala following unverified social media claims about the alleged deaths of two female students.
Posts claiming that two freshers had died by suicide in a campus hostel circulated online, with some students reportedly citing screams and the presence of ambulances on the campus.
Patiala SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans said no suicides or deaths had been reported at the university by students or their families.
Chitkara University also denied the claims and said they had no factual basis.
The two incidents have highlighted how unverified social media claims can quickly trigger panic and unrest on university campuses.
