Hundreds of students protested on Monday at a college in Lahore, Pakistan, following reports of an alleged rape of a student, forcing the closure of one of the campuses. Despite the widespread outrage, local police and government officials denied the incident occurred.
The rape was initially reported on social media over the weekend, with conflicting accounts suggesting it happened on either Thursday or Friday evening in the basement of Punjab College for Women.
However, police stated on Monday that no formal complaint had been filed, and the college dismissed the allegations as baseless. “We have reviewed all CCTV footage from the campus,” said senior Lahore police official Faisal Kamran during a press conference. “So far, we have not been able to verify the incident.”
Kamran also noted that no victim had been identified and that hospital records were checked without finding any corroborating evidence.
Punjab College for Women released a statement on Instagram, asserting that no such incident had been reported and labeling the information circulating online as false.
Authorities did, however, take a security guard into custody after his name surfaced on social media. Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari confirmed the arrest on X, stating, “The accused guard has been detained since yesterday, but no girl or incident has been reported yet. If anyone has verified information, please come forward.”
