Gulte Movie News And Politics
Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab’s Phagwara has been witnessing protests and violence since September 27 after allegations of sexual assault involving a female student began circulating among students and on social media. What began as a protest over an alleged incident at a girls’ hostel escalated into vandalism on campus, a blockade of the Jalandhar-Phagwara highway, clashes with police and arson. But there is an important distinction between what is being claimed and what has actually been established. The alleged sexual assault has not been proven. Police have registered an FIR and are investigating the allegation, while LPU has denied that the incident occurred.
According to reports based on the complaint and accounts from protesting students, the allegation concerns an incident that was said to have taken place around September 23 at Girls’ Hostel-3. Students alleged that an outsider working on the university campus had entered a hostel room and sexually assaulted a female student. Different accounts described the alleged worker as a plumber, painter or construction worker. The allegations subsequently spread through student groups and social media, with students also alleging that the university had failed to respond adequately. By the early hours of September 27, a large number of students had gathered near the girls’ hostel demanding an investigation and action against those allegedly responsible.
The police investigation, however, has not established that the alleged assault occurred. Police initially said they had not received a complaint and that their preliminary inquiry had not found evidence substantiating the allegation. A formal complaint was subsequently submitted by a female student, following which Kapurthala police registered an FIR against an unidentified person under Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with rape. An FIR records an allegation and initiates an investigation; it is not itself proof that the offence took place. Police subsequently constituted a Special Investigation Team, which is examining CCTV footage, forensic evidence, phone records and other material.
There are also questions about the specific location of the alleged incident. Police said that three students who were staying in the room identified as the alleged location said that no such incident had occurred there. Officers also reportedly said that they had not been able to identify the alleged victim from people present during the protests. However, police have not closed the investigation or formally declared the allegation false. The SIT is continuing to examine the available evidence. That means the public record at this stage does not support presenting either “the assault definitely happened” or “the allegation was definitely fabricated” as established fact.
LPU, meanwhile, has strongly denied the allegation. University Registrar Monica Gulati described the claims circulating online as false, baseless and fabricated. The university also released a video featuring three female students who said they had been staying in the room identified in the allegations and that no such incident had occurred there. That video subsequently became another point of controversy. The students later alleged that they had been instructed about what to say and that the video had been edited. Those claims have also not been independently established, meaning the video cannot by itself settle whether the original allegation was true or false.
Another issue that became intertwined with the protests was the death by suicide of a female student from Telangana. Social-media posts and some student claims attempted to connect her death with the alleged sexual assault. Police, however, have said that they have not established such a connection. Authorities have indicated that the student’s death is being examined separately, including through forensic examination of her mobile phone. The distinction is important because online discussions have frequently merged the student’s death, the alleged assault and claims of an institutional cover-up into a single narrative, even though those links have not been established by the investigation so far.
The protests themselves, however, are not in doubt. Students damaged university property, broke windows and other fixtures and set objects and vehicles on fire. The protest also spilled onto NH-44, the major highway connecting Jalandhar and Phagwara, causing significant disruption to traffic. On September 27, the confrontation escalated further, with police reporting stone-pelting by protesters. A police jeep was set on fire and other vehicles were damaged, while several police personnel were injured. Police subsequently deployed a large force inside and around the university and conducted a flag march as the situation was brought under control.
LPU has since suspended regular classes for 10 days beginning September 28, while mid-term examinations have been postponed until further notice. Students have also been allowed to leave the campus after consulting their parents or guardians. The police investigation into the alleged sexual assault remains ongoing, while authorities are separately examining the violence and property damage that occurred during the protests.
For now, the LPU controversy is best understood as an allegation that triggered a major student protest, followed by serious violence and an ongoing criminal investigation. The alleged sexual assault remains unproven; the university’s claim that the allegation was fabricated is also not a final finding by investigators. The SIT’s investigation, including its examination of CCTV, forensic and digital evidence, will ultimately determine what can be established about the original allegation. Until then, separating the verified events from the claims circulating online is crucial.
