Over 150 arrested as violent protests against alleged Lahore rape spread to Rawalpindi

More than 150 people were arrested in Rawalpindi after violent protests in response to the alleged rape of student in Lahore college.Police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators mostly students who had gathered to protest.

The incident began when reports of the alleged rape of student in Lahore went viral on social media. Police arrested a college security guard who was accused of being involved in the incident.

Enraged by the alleged incident, students organized protests through social media and staged demonstrations outside various colleges in Lahore. these protests led to clashes with college security guards and police, at least 28 were injured due to clashes.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has dismissed the allegations as “fabricated news,” and blaming the PTI of spreading false information on social media. Officials from the Punjab Group of Colleges have also denied the claims, calling them baseless.

SSP Rawalpindi Hafiz Kamran Asghar confirmed that around 100 violent protesters were arrested,the situation is now under control. He emphasized that the police did not want to arrest students if anyone tried to take the law into their hands under the guise of protests, legal action would be taken against them.

SSP Asghar added that the authorities were investigating all aspects of the protests and had deployed a large police presence on main roads near colleges across the city. Roads that were closed due to the protests have been reopened.

The Rawalpindi Police also urged parents to keep their children away from illegal activities, warning that legal consequences could harm their future.

The protests had already spread to other Punjab cities on Wednesday, where students of public as well as private institutes resorted to violence, ransacking and torching different PGC campuses.

In Lahore, students gathered outside the Punjab College’s Campus 11, where they set fire to the parking area, shattered windows, and damaged doors. More than 450 people were named in cases filed over attacking and damaging PGC campuses in Gujrat’s Lalamusa and Kharian cities.

Separately, the Lahore High Court summoned Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar, Advocate General of Punjab Khalid Ishaq and Lahore College for Women University’s (LCWU) registrar over a similar case.

The development came as the LHC took up a petition against the alleged harassment of female students in Punjab’s educational institutions.

“The Anti-Rape Act does not allow the name of the girl victim to be published was the IG Punjab so ill-informed that he let the photos and videos go viral,” said while presiding over a single bench hearing.

she ordered that with the record All officers are to appear in court tomorrow.

The petition urged the court to order an investigation into such incidents and direct the Punjab government to protect female students.