Lahore : Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday ordered a crackdown on those spreading fake news that a girl had been allegedly raped at a private college in Lahore. Since the beginning of the week, students have staged protests in multiple cities of the country’s largest province, demanding that alleged culprits of the claimed crime be brought to justice.
While the protests caused injuries to students and police alike, the authorities had firmly stated that no girl had been raped, while the girl’s family had also ruled out the sexual assault. During a press conference, the provincial chief executive said that a crackdown should be launched “regardless of whether they belong to the PTI [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf] or Chaudhry Pervez Elahi’s Q-League”. She also blamed the former ruling party for spreading fake news and spreading anarchy to damage the state, especially at a time when the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit was underway. “I call them [PTI] a terrorist organisation for some reason. Who will compensate for the loss that the child and her family suffered as a result of her name being used to spark unrest,” she said, slamming the Imran Khan-founded PTI. Maryam said an attempt was made to run a campaign in Punjab by misleading the students on the basis of lies, adding that a very “vile and dangerous plan was made” after the failure of protest, siege, and anarchy. “I know very well who is behind this incident and will not leave anyone who was involved in this,” she stressed. A high-level committee, formed by the Punjab government, has also stated in its report that the girl had not been raped and that she sustained injuries at her home. The police registered a first information report (FIR) at the Defence A Police Station against the spread of misinformation and unverified news on social media. She said that the authorities were still looking for the victim to date and added that the girl whose name was being taken as an alleged rape victim was undergoing treatment in the hospital since October 2 and the accused guard was on vacation.CM Maryam added that the incident was reported on October 10, but the girl was not present at her college on the said day. “…it was claimed that the CCTV footage of the incident had been deleted. First, a false story was created and then a search was started for the victim. There were no eyewitnesses as the incident did not happen.” Moving on, the chief minister said that she had told the education minister that he should not suspend the registration of the college. “No injustice should be done to anyone, whoever is involved in this incident will not be spared.”
What happened?
Maryam’s presser comes after social media was flooded with public outcry over the alleged rape incident, with the matter going viral across various platforms with photographs of some female students also being widely shared. The matter surfaced on the internet after students of a private college took to streets on Monday to protest against the alleged rape. The demonstration turned violent after dozens of the protestors were injured in violent clashes with protesters and law enforcers. The protests also continued on Tuesday and Wednesday in difference cities of the province. According to the FIR, the news of the alleged rape of the student went viral on social media. It added that various students were asked to confirm the incident, while the concerned girl and her parents completely denied its occurrence. The FIR further stated that the girl’s parents said that their daughter fell in the house on October 2 and suffered deep injury. The girl’s treatment was done at the Lahore General Hospital and Ittefaq Hospital till October 11 with 15 days of bed rest recommended to her. However, the girl’s family surfaced and denied the claims regarding the purported rape. In a video message, the girl’s father and uncle — with their faces covered with masks — said that “there has been no sexual assault” on their daughter. “We are surprised to see the videos of ongoing protests on social media.” The girl’s uncle said that she was currently under treatment in a hospital’s ICU for the injury in her back that she had sustained from a fall in their house, adding that the protests in her name were being wrongly held.