Unverified claims and viral rumours circulating on the social media forum Reddit triggered violent student unrest and arson in two major private university campuses in the state, according to findings by Punjab Police.
Investigations into the separate incidents at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara and Chitkara University in Rajpura revealed that fabricated accounts of sexual assault, student suicides, and mysterious disappearances were deliberately seeded into open discussion threads, rapidly escalating into campus-wide protests.
According to police officials, thorough inquiries established no factual basis for any of the viral allegations. “Rumours on social media carrying unverified information led to the escalation of the situation,” said Praveen Sinha, special director general of police (Law and Order). “In the case of LPU, as per our probe till now, it was a post on Reddit that led to the escalation of tension.”
The cybercrime division launched a comprehensive investigation to trace the digital footprint and origin of the malicious threads. “We have blocked and taken down over 100 such posts and accounts. A detailed probe is underway to ascertain the origin of these posts,” a senior cyber official said.
At LPU, chaos erupted following a post alleging that a female student had been sexually assaulted inside Room 504 of Girls Hostel-3 by campus electricians. To defuse tensions, police registered a first information report (FIR) on Sunday morning despite possessing no formal complaint, named accused, or identifiable victim.
{{/usCountry}}At LPU, chaos erupted following a post alleging that a female student had been sexually assaulted inside Room 504 of Girls Hostel-3 by campus electricians. To defuse tensions, police registered a first information report (FIR) on Sunday morning despite possessing no formal complaint, named accused, or identifiable victim.
{{/usCountry}}However, a scan of CCTV footage directly contradicted the allegations. The footage confirmed that when an electrician visited the hostel room for maintenance, he was accompanied by the female hostel warden in strict adherence to university protocol. LPU authorities subsequently released a video statement featuring the actual occupants of Room 504 who clarified that they had lived there undisturbed for two months and that no such assault had occurred.
The unrest was further fueled by real-time disinformation, police officials said. “Such was the impact of the rumours that when the Jalandhar police commissioner Satinder Singh was leading the force to sanitise the girls’ hostels, a fake post went viral claiming that several boys had entered that very hostel,” said an SP-rank officer, requesting anonymity. “We were standing right there and nothing of the sort had happened,” he added.
At Chitkara University, online posts falsely claimed multiple female students had died by suicide, sparking unrest and property damage. Another post claimed that a priest had visited the premises to perform an exorcism following the alleged suicides. A Patiala police official debunked the claim. “The matter was probed and the CCTV footages revealed that the priest had come to see his daughter who was studying in the varsity,” he added. As of Monday, not a single complainant has stepped forward at either university to report any of the alleged crimes, said police.