Police officers apprehend protesting students during a rally to denounce the alleged rape of a female student by a security guard within the confines of a college in Lahore on Monday. — AFP
A college campus in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore was closed by the provincial government on Monday following online reports of a student being raped, which led to protests. Hundreds of students demonstrated on two campuses of the college after social media posts claimed that a woman was assaulted by a security guard at the college. During a press conference on Monday, the police stated that no victim had come forward to file a complaint, and the college dismissed the allegations as 'false'. 'The records of all the CCTV cameras in the campus have been checked. Until now, we are unable to verify the incident,' said senior Lahore police official Faisal Kamran, adding that the police had also checked hospital records. 'The alleged victim has not been identified as yet.' The Punjab College for Women posted on Instagram that no incident had been reported to the police and that false information had spread online. The incident was initially reported on social media over the weekend, with conflicting accounts stating that the rape occurred on Thursday or Friday evening in a campus basement. A security guard identified online was taken into custody by the police. The Punjab government announced that the campus would remain closed until further notice, according to a notification posted by information minister Azma Bukhari on X. 'The suspect has been in custody since yesterday. But until now, no girl or no incident has been reported,' Bukhari said. Students vowed to continue protesting until safety measures were implemented on college campuses. 'Even if it takes a month, we will continue to come here. Shut the campus down. Hang that guard here,' said Adeel, an 18-year-old student who refused to give his second name and joined the protests from a nearby college.
