Punjab University Protests Over Unverified Claims Lead to Arrests and Court Scrutiny

The two campuses faced different allegations, and the coverage does not establish that either protest began with a confirmed crime. At Chitkara University in Patiala, hundreds of students protested after a video claiming a ghost was on campus spread on social media, NDTV Top Stories reported on September 26.

Rumours also concerned missing female students and supposed student suicides. The Hindu described claims that two students had died by suicide as unverified, while Times of India reported that false rumours about missing girls followed a prank.

At Lovely Professional University, or LPU, in Phagwara, protests centred on an unverified allegation that a female student had been raped. On September 27, The Hindu quoted Kapurthala police chief Gaurav Toora saying police had no information about such a crime.

September 27 brought violence at LPU. Protesters clashed with police, damaged property and blocked a highway, according to Mint. Times of India reported that more than 2,000 police were deployed after stone throwing and vehicles being set ablaze.

The reporting on the alleged assault was not consistent. While police told The Hindu they had no information about such a crime, Mint reported on September 27 that a rape case had been registered against an unknown person following a student complaint, and that a special investigation team had been formed. Registering a case did not establish that the allegation was true.

LPU suspended classes for ten days and postponed midterm examinations, India Today reported on September 27. By September 28, students were leaving with bags and suitcases as parents arrived to take them home, according to NDTV India.

A university video intended to counter the rape allegation became another point of dispute. NDTV Top Stories reported that students who denied rape in the video later called it scripted. On September 28, Times of India Top Stories reported that three female students said LPU had released their video without consent.

The dispute reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. On September 30, Bar and Bench reported that the court asked police to clarify whether a rape had occurred. The Hindu also reported that the court sought a status report from the Punjab government.

Arrests followed. Reporting published October 2 by Punjab Newsline put the total in the violence case at nine, including seven students, with 20 accused identified. Separately, NDTV Top Stories reported two arrests over fake social media posts that triggered a university protest.

The supplied coverage does not contain a final police finding establishing whether the alleged rape at LPU occurred. The High Court's request for clarification remains central to separating the original allegation from the violence that followed, as reported by Scroll.in.

LPU founder Ashok Mittal described the rape rumours as false and alleged a wider conspiracy in an October 1 interview with Mint. Those are his claims, not an established investigative conclusion. Mint also reported competing accounts of who was responsible for looting at the campus mall, with videos depicting student involvement and claims blaming outsiders.

The next substantive development is the police response to the High Court: whether investigators can establish that a rape occurred, and what evidence supports their conclusion. The Punjab government's status report should also clarify the progress of the investigation, following the court's request reported by The Hindu.

The violence investigation has further suspects to account for. Punjab Newsline reported 20 accused identified and nine arrests by October 2. Police findings on the circulation of false posts will matter separately from evidence about arson, damage and looting.