Alleged rape: Punjab shuts education institutions after protests

LAHORE: Authorities shut schools, colleges and universities in Punjab on Friday following the most violent student protests in the country in recent years over the alleged rape of a student on campus, officials said.

The protests have spread since Monday, with participants alleging that a female student was raped by a security guard on the campus of a private college chain in the city of Lahore.

Hundreds of protesting students demanded action by the government, but officials say they have not yet found any evidence of such an incident, with some blaming social media for spreading fake news.

Dozens of students, police and college employees have been injured since Monday as protesters clashed with law enforcement as they rampaged through several of the campuses in the chain, police said, adding hundreds of students had been arrested.

All educational institutions will remain closed on Friday, an order issued by the Punjab government and seen by Reuters, said. No official reason was given.

“We have investigated it thoroughly - no such incident happened,” Lahore police chief Bilal Saddique Kamyana told a news conference on Thursday, adding that no complainant had come forward on the matter.

Despite official denials, anger has grown in Pakistan, particularly on social media.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, in a press conference, said the incident was fake news being spread by the party of political rival Imran Khan, who has been in jail since last year.

Maryam said a number of social media accounts, including ones affiliated with Khan’s party, had shared “doctored images” of the alleged victim and some video bloggers had also spread false information.

Shaukat Basra, the provincial secretary for information at Khan’s party, accused Nawaz of trying to conceal the crime.