Rawalpindi students protest over alleged rape case in Lahore college

Protests led to significant damage at a private college, with windows shattered and property vandalised.

Students in Rawalpindi staged protests over an alleged assault on a student in Lahore, targeting a private college near Khanna Pul.

The protesters threw stones at the campus, shattering windows of the building and parked vehicles, Express News reported.

The demonstrators expanded their protest to other areas, including Morgah Jehlum Road and GT Road in Gujar Khan.

They also set objects taken from the college library on fire along the Express Highway service road.

In response, Rawalpindi police were placed on high alert, and a special security plan was implemented to control the situation.

Over 1,400 officers, including three SPs, nine DSPs, and 23 SHOs, were deployed for security duty.

Private and government educational institutions, including universities and colleges, were also assigned police protection.

Police set up checkpoints at over 15 key locations across the city and cantonment areas, including Committee Chowk, Liaqat Bagh, and Faizabad.

Officers were also stationed at 10 metro bus stations, and police teams equipped with rubber bullets, tear gas, and anti-riot gear were kept on standby.

Alleged assault case

Protests erupted across the campuses of a group of colleges over reports of the rape of a first-year student by a security guard.

The incident had taken place on October 11 at the Gulberg campus, where a college bus driver had allegedly tricked the victim into the basement, where she was assaulted by a security guard, according to protesting students.

The matter came to light when a lecturer inquired about the victim's absence. Her friends reached out to the girl's parents who revealed that their daughter had allegedly been raped by the guard.

The students claim that the victim's condition had deteriorated after the incident and she had been discreetly taken out of the college.

Students took to the social media to expose the alleged crime, leading to large-scale demonstrations outside the Punjab College campuses.

The protesters accused the college administration of attempting to cover up the incident. They claimed that the principal had deleted the CCTV footage of the incident and that the police and security guards had violently suppressed the protests.

However, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has dismissed claims of a rape case involving a student at a private college in Lahore, stating that the incident was fabricated.