Phagwara/Jalandhar, September 27: Violent protests erupted at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab’s Phagwara in the early hours of Sunday after claims of the alleged rape of a female student circulated rapidly on social media and among students. The unrest led to damage to university property, objects being set on fire, and a blockade of the busy Jalandhar-Phagwara (Delhi-Amritsar) National Highway.
According to Kapurthala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gaurav Toora, police received information around 1.45 am that a large number of students had gathered on the LPU campus and blocked a road. The gathering began near the girls’ hostel after messages claiming a female student from the G3 hostel had been sexually assaulted by an outsider (in some versions, three days earlier) spread online. Other circulating claims suggested the student had later died by suicide. Around 2,000 students were reportedly involved at the peak of the protest.
Videos circulating on social media showed students smashing window panes, throwing bricks and flower pots, and setting some objects and parts of buildings on fire inside the campus. Protesters also breached gates and moved outside, blocking the national highway around 4 am and disrupting traffic on the important Jalandhar-Phagwara stretch. Slogans demanding “justice” were raised.
Police forces from Kapurthala, Jalandhar Rural and Hoshiarpur were mobilised. Deputy Inspector General (Jalandhar Range) Naveen Singla reached the campus to review the situation. He said the students’ primary demand was an investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a student from the G3 hostel three days earlier, claiming no action had been taken.
“We have recorded their statement and initiated the registration of an FIR, and they will receive a copy shortly,” Singla told the media. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Superintendent of Police (Phagwara) Major Singh has been constituted to probe the matter.
SSP Toora, however, stressed that police had no prior information or complaint about any such crime. “When we reached here, we came to know that there were rumours. Because of the rumours, students gathered here,” he said. He added that the identity of any alleged victim or perpetrator had not been established and that no substantiating evidence had been found so far. In some reports, police noted a separate incident of a woman dying by suicide near the campus agriculture department four or five days earlier, but said it was not linked to the claims circulating among students.
Lovely Professional University strongly rejected the allegations. Registrar Monica Gulati issued a statement describing the reports as “completely false, baseless and fabricated rumours” spread by “certain anti-social elements” through social media and other channels in an attempt to create confusion and disturb the academic environment. The university urged students to rely only on official information.
The situation was brought under control after police discussions with students and the deployment of a heavy force. Traffic on the highway was restored. Authorities said further action would follow after damage assessment.
The LPU unrest came a day after similar unverified claims of rape or suicide triggered protests at Chitkara University near Rajpura, highlighting a pattern of social media-driven campus tensions in Punjab over the weekend.
As of Sunday morning, the investigation into both the students’ complaints and the circumstances that led to the violence remains ongoing. Police have emphasised that no confirmed incident matching the viral claims had been reported to them prior to the protest.
