LPU Protest Turns Violent: Students Set Campus Ablaze Over Rape Allegation in Punjab

The Lovely Professional University protest in Phagwara, Punjab, turned violent on Sunday evening as hundreds of students demanding action over an alleged rape case clashed with police, with multiple vehicles burned and part of a university building set on fire. Police used lathis after stones and bricks were thrown, while injuries were reported among both officers and students.

At least five students were detained and a sharp-edged weapon was recovered from them, according to Asian News International. Lovely Professional University has suspended regular classes for 10 days from 28 September and postponed mid-term examinations. Students living in hostels were advised to return home.

LPU Protest Escalates Over Rape Allegation

For context, hundreds of students had gathered near LPU and on the Jalandhar-Amritsar national highway from around 2:00am on Sunday, demanding justice over an alleged rape involving a female student living in one of the campus hostels.

Jalandhar Range DIG Naveen Singla said the primary grievance was an alleged rape involving a female student three days earlier. He said an FIR had been lodged and a special investigation team formed, while police were examining CCTV footage and taking statements from girls living in the rooms.

Students also raised concerns about security in the girls' hostel. According to Singla, their demands included stronger security and the deployment of only female staff. Students alleged that male workers were allowed to enter the hostel without a staff member accompanying them.

Police also said a social-media message claimed that a girl had been raped by an electrician, sent home by the university and died the following day. The supplied report does not establish those claims as confirmed.

Students blocked the highway as the protest grew. Damage was reported to university buildings, attendance counters, signboards, security kiosks and ATMs, while parked motorcycles, cycles and other property were set on fire.

Student Protest Brings Claims of Outside Involvement

Several student protesters told the media that outsiders, some with their faces covered, had entered the demonstration carrying lathis, hockey sticks, bricks and stones and were responsible for violence and arson.

The university administration also said through social-media posts that the protest was the result of a 'pre-planned conspiracy to defame the university'. That remains the administration's claim, rather than an independently established finding in the supplied report.

Earlier, police and university officials held several rounds of talks with student representatives. An FIR was registered against unknown persons, and a joint action committee was announced to engage with the management and police over the students' demands.

Police said student representatives had agreed to persuade protesters to leave the highway after the talks and FIR. Police also warned that outsiders could join the protest and cause the situation to move beyond control.

But the crowd did not accept the explanation. Student leaders later told protesters they were satisfied that police were conducting a thorough investigation and said CCTV footage had shown no such incident. The crowd rejected the message, booed the leaders and accused them of being 'bought over' by the police and administration.

The confrontation then intensified. Police reported seeing their vehicles burning on the main road as stones and bricks were thrown towards officers. Several policemen were injured, according to the report, before reinforcements arrived.

By around 11:00pm Sunday, the situation had been brought under control. Protesters were forced to enter the LPU campus and police secured the gates.

After traffic resumed, senior police officers led by Commissioner of Police Jalandhar Satinder Singh and student representatives moved through the university to check that no outsiders or hooligans had entered the campus or hostels. Singh later told the media that the situation was under control.