The alleged rape incident that triggered protests at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara remains under investigation, with police yet to establish the identity of the alleged victim or confirm what exactly happened.
Jalandhar Range DIG Naveen Singla, while addressing a press conference in Jalandhar on Friday, said police had spoken to several girls during the investigation but he would not disclose their names.
“I will not take any names of any girl, but we have talked to a few girls,” the DIG said.
He added that, so far, the investigation had not brought forward the name of any victim. However, he made it clear that the probe was still continuing.
This clarification is significant because the alleged rape was at the centre of the initial protests at LPU on September 27. Claims circulated among students and on social media that a female student had allegedly been sexually assaulted inside a girls' hostel. The allegation quickly spread across the campus and was followed by a large student protest, which later escalated into vandalism, arson, attacks on police vehicles and a blockade of the Delhi-Amritsar National Highway.
Police subsequently registered an FIR against an unidentified person under the rape provision of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and formed a Special Investigation Team to examine the allegation. At that stage, police said forensic evidence, CCTV footage and phone records would be examined before reaching any conclusion.
However, the registration of an FIR does not by itself establish that a rape took place. An FIR records information received by police and allows an investigation to begin.
In the initial investigation, police officers said they could not substantiate the allegation at the location mentioned by protesting students. Media reported that three girls who were present in the hostel room where the alleged incident was said to have occurred denied that such an incident had taken place. Police nevertheless continued the investigation through the SIT.
The university had also denied the allegation and described the claims circulating at the time as false and fabricated. LPU said it was cooperating with the police investigation and offered CCTV footage to investigators.
The latest police statement, however, does not amount to a final clean chit either. DIG Singla said the investigation into the original rape FIR was still underway and that staff and students were being questioned. The police are therefore continuing to examine whether the allegation can be established through evidence.
According to the latest police update, nine people have been arrested in connection with arson, vandalism, robbery and highway blockades during the September 27-28 unrest. Seven of those arrested are LPU students, including a juvenile, while two are outsiders. Police have identified 40 people connected to the incidents so far, with 20 named in FIR No. 163.
The police said these arrests were made after examining CCTV footage, videos, images recovered from the campus, social media material and other digital evidence. The accused have allegedly been linked to incidents including arson, rioting, robbery, attacks on police personnel, highway blockade and damage to LPU infrastructure. A separate FIR was also registered over arson, robbery, attacks and the torching of police vehicles.
The violence began after the alleged sexual assault claim spread among students. Reports at the time also linked the unrest to claims about an outsider entering a girls' hostel. However, the identity of the alleged victim and the person accused in the original rape allegation have not been established publicly by police.
The latest position, therefore, is that the rape allegation has not been established, but the investigation has not been closed either.
Police are continuing to question people and examine available evidence. At the same time, the arrests made in connection with the subsequent violence are being investigated separately.