With mystery continuing to shroud over the alleged rape case that led to violence at Lovely Professional University last month, the special investigation team (SIT) has sought specific information from students to substantiate whether such an incident actually took place on the campus.
According to a varsity notice, students have been asked to share corroborative information, including details mentioning the place, date, time, the accused or the victim, along with valid proof, via the email IDs or phone numbers of the SIT members provided to them.
“The identity of the person providing information will be kept confidential. It has been requested that only specific and verifiable information, supported by ample proof, should be shared so that it can be further investigated,” said one of the officials privy to the investigation.
Widespread violence broke out on the campus on September 26 after unverified reports circulated on the social media platform Reddit alleging that an outsider had raped a female student at the university. A masked mob allegedly vandalised university property, set fire to campus buildings and damaged police vehicles. Protesters also allegedly pelted police personnel with stones and glass bottles before moving onto the Amritsar-Delhi National Highway (NH-44).
On September 26, Kapurthala police had already registered a rape case under Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against unidentified suspects, though the identity of the alleged victim remained unestablished. A five-member SIT, headed by Vineet Ahalawat, superintendent of police (Investigation), Jalandhar Rural, was subsequently constituted.
{{/usCountry}}On September 26, Kapurthala police had already registered a rape case under Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against unidentified suspects, though the identity of the alleged victim remained unestablished. A five-member SIT, headed by Vineet Ahalawat, superintendent of police (Investigation), Jalandhar Rural, was subsequently constituted.
{{/usCountry}}Matter in high court
Last week, in a response to a public interest litigation (PIL) in Punjab and Haryana high court, the Punjab government stated the investigation so far had not confirmed any incident of rape, even as several teams of the police have been probing the matter from multiple angles. The next hearing in the case is slated on October 27.
The PIL filed by Ravi Raj, a BTech student at LPU, is seeking a CBI probe into the violence, arson and looting that broke out at LPU following the alleged rape rumour on September 26. During a hearing on October 12, the high court flagged gaps in the Punjab Police probe into the violence and gave a “last opportunity” to the state police before it transfers the case to an independent agency.
It may be mentioned that the Kapurthala police have already zeroed-in a woman Reddit user, who admitted to uploading the post related to sexual assault with another girl twice, on September 24 and September 26, before deleting it.
It was the same post that went viral through social media and students got enraged without checking its veracity. The girl, a first-year student of LPU, admitted that her Reddit post was based on hearsay and she only wanted to express her views on social media.