FIA to probe ‘disinformation’ on alleged rape of college student

• Parent of ‘victim’, institution deny incident, seek cases under cyber crime laws
• Punjab govt committee finds no evidence of ‘rape’, blames social media for triggering violent protests
• Issue echoes in Punjab Assembly, demos continue in Lahore, Gujrat

LAHORE: A probe has been opened into “social media disinformation” about the alleged rape of a college student as the girl’s family and her institution have made requests to lodge cases under the cybercrime law.

Protests broke out in Lahore on Monday after social media reports claimed that a young female student was allegedly raped at a girls’ college in Gulberg.

Police action to disperse the protesters left several students injured.

Following an official inquiry, which termed the incident fake, the Punjab government is expected to request relevant authorities to file a case on the complaint of the alleged victim’s family, who have also denied the incident.

The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing has already formed a committee on the complaint of the college administration.

The seven-member team, headed by Deputy Director Cyber Crime Lahore Waqas Saeed, will identify individuals who were involved in spreading disinformation on social media.

Inquiry committee

The inquiry committee, formed by the Punjab chief minister, found that the reports of alleged rape were “fake” and blamed social media misinformation for inciting violent protests, an official told Dawn on Tuesday.

In its interim findings, the probe committee found no evidence of rape.

A senior government official said the committee, headed by the provincial chief secretary, summoned and recorded the statements of police officials, the college principal, the Punjab Group of Colleges director, around 28 students and the security guard who was arrested by police as a prime suspect on Monday.

Later, a sub-committee of senior bureaucrats was formed to visit the alleged victim and her family.

The girl, according to the official, denied the incident of rape, while her parents expressed strong reservations over the reports on social media.

They claimed that their daughter “fell from her bed” and suffered a backbone fracture on Oct 2.

According to the girl’s father, she was taken to a private clinic for initial treatment and, on Oct 3, shifted to the Lahore General Hospital. She was then moved to Ittefaq Hospital, where she remained in the ICU till Oct 11.

Since then, “she has been on bed rest at home”.

Students protest

In Lahore, the Progressive Students Collective (PSC) took out an ‘anti-harassment rally’ from Government College University to the Punjab Assembly.

Students from various universities joined the rally, which started at 11am and reached the Punjab Assembly around 1pm. The students, mostly girls, chanted slogans against the administrations of educational institutes over their failure to provide a safe environment to women and how anti-harassment committees mandated by law remained non-functional.

The students demanded that a committee, including officials of human rights organisations, student representatives and Lahore High Court judges be formed to investigate the alleged incident and the manhandling of student protesters by Punjab Police. They also demanded anti-harassment committees on all campuses.

In Gujrat, a large number of students ransacked the campus of Punjab College and the University of Central Punjab and staged a demonstration at GT Road.

The students also pelted stones at police vehicles and burnt tyres in front of the boys’ campus of Punjab College near Gurali on the outskirts of Gujrat.

Punjab Assembly session

The alleged incident of rape also dominated discussion in the Punjab Assembly and resulted in a fierce spat between government and opposition members.

Opposition lawmakers Ijaz Shafi, Rana Shehbaz, and retired Col Shoaib alleged that the government was misleading the people by not disclosing facts about the incident.

They regretted the use of water cannons and baton-charge by the police to disperse student protesters outside the assembly building.

Col Shoaib and Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari had a heated exchange while the latter was responding to allegations levelled by the opposition.

The minister censured the opposition for exploiting the issue for political gain.

She claimed a deliberate attempt was being made to “spread anarchy” in Lahore by spreading misinformation about the alleged incident.

The minister said that the record of all hospitals had been checked, while the homes of three girls, who shared the same name as the alleged victim and studied at the same campus, were visited, but no one confirmed the incident.

Petition in LHC

Separately, a petition has also been filed in the Lahore High Court against the alleged harassment of female students in Punjab’s educational institutions.

A citizen, Azam Butt, filed the petition through Advocate Rana Sikandar. While referring to the alleged incident, the petitioner stated that harassment of female students has been reported in other educational institutions as well.

He urged the court to order an investigation into these incidents and direct the Punjab government to protect female students.

Zulqernain Tahir, Amjad Mahmood and Wajih Ahmad Sheikh also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2024