- Students protest alleged LPU rape, block highway, torch vehicles.
- LPU denies claims, states room 504 students refute incident.
- SIT formed to investigate; no evidence found yet.
Jalandhar is tense over a case of alleged rape at Lovely Professional University (LPU) as students have staged a protest, blocked the Delhi-Amritsar National Highway (NH-44) and set police vehicles on fire, demanding action even as the university called the claims a 'rumour'.
Security has been heightened near the campus. As part of the investigation, the police are examining CCTV footage on campus. However, they have failed to uncover any video or other evidence that could confirm the crime took place. Police have also gathered information from students in the hostel and parts of the campus.
Several people were questioned regarding the alleged incident. The questioning too have failed to establish the commission of the crime until late last night.
University administration claims anti-social elements behind protests
LPU Registrar, Dr Monica Gulati, has released a video denying any involvement of students in the protest. Rejecting the claims of rape of a girl in room number 504 of the G3 hostel, as alleged by protestors, she showed some girls who stated, "We are from room number 504. We have been living there for two months. Nothing like this has happened in our room. Please, the police and students, please don't harass us."
"We are worried today. If we face further problems, we will inform our family members. The police should not harass us repeatedly; otherwise, we will call our family members," they added. Dr Monica Gulati said that anti-social elements are behind all this, who are trying to spoil the university environment with lies and rumours. The false narrative ends here. No speculation. No hearsay. Hear the truth directly from the students who were there.
However, a new turn came into the story when another purported video of the same girls surfaced on social media, where they called the university-released video scripted. One of them claimed that they were asked to say that some students were bothering them, and later the video was trimmed.
She said, "[LPU administration] told us to record all this and say it for them. We were just instructed to say that students and others are bothering us. Half of our video was trimmed and posted on Instagram, about which we had no idea. Our consent was not taken. This was done without informing us, and now we are facing unnecessary abuse."
What protesters say?
The rape took place four days ago, but an attempt was made to suppress the matter. According to protestors, the management did not listen to them, and the warden allegedly said that the girl themselves were responsible for the incident. The protestors are demanding strict action against the perpetrators.
Violence erupts
The protests started on Sunday morning as agitators blocked NH-44 at 8 AM demanding action in the alleged rape case. By evening, the protest turned violent, and two vehicles were torched, while journalists were seen running for cover.
Jalandhar Rural SSP Harvinder Singh Virk said four to five police vehicles were damaged in the violence. Dramatic scenes unfolded at the university campus as a student climbed atop a decommissioned MiG-23UM aircraft installed on campus, while a few others mounted a military tank.
The videos now making rounds on social media also showed the protesting students purportedly damaging window panes and flower pots on campus, even putting some objects on fire, with cries of "we want justice" echoing in the background.
Based on students' complaints, the police said a rape case was registered against an unknown person and an SIT has been formed to investigate the matter.
LPU suspends exams, classes for 10 days
The university has announced the suspension of mid-term examinations in view of the safety concerns amid the violent protests. While the examinations are suspended until further notice, classes will also remain suspended for 10 days. In a statement, LPU said, "Regular classes will remain suspended for a period of 10 days with effect from September 28, 2026 (Monday). Mid-Term Examinations are postponed until further notice. The revised examination schedule will be communicated separately via UMS."
(With inputs from Sukrant Safari)