Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister of Punjab, called the alleged on-campus rape of a student in Lahore “a fabricated story” and refuted “rumors’ spread on social media” on Wednesday.
The authorities detained a college security guard who was reportedly engaged in the incident last week after news of the student’s alleged rape went viral on social media.
Students became incensed by the purported incident, took to social media, and organized demonstrations outside the city’s several colleges. Clashes occurred between the demonstrators and the college security force during one of the protests. Afterwards, a confrontation between the police and the students left 28 people dead.
According to the police, the victim could not be identified or traced during the interrogation of the detained security guard. The police stated that no one from her family came forward to file a first information report (FIR), and that they had examined hospital records and CCTV footage from the college in question, but they had not found any clues.
In the meantime, others on social media started claiming that a girl in a video was the purported victim of rape as it went viral. Observing the widely shared footage, Lahore’s Defense A police station registered an FIR related to the case, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com.
When the girl’s parents saw the police, they vehemently denied any rape event, according to the FIR. Instead, they claimed that their daughter had been hospitalized from October 2 to 11 due to injuries sustained in a fall at home. According to the FIR, the girl’s parents maintained that their intentional attempt to damage their daughter’s reputation was the reason why their video went viral.
Speaking about the matter at a news conference held in Lahore today, the chief minister claimed that an occurrence that “never existed in the first place” had been turned into a problem.
CM Maryam declared, “The alleged rape incident was a fabricated story with no basis in reality.” “The girl [in the widely shared video] is a victim of bad politics and a conspiracy, not a rape victim.”
She mentioned that “some of the protesters were not even students” in reference to the city’s student-led protest against the purported rape occurrence. They were started by our rival party, the PTI.
“I’m not going to spare whoever did this. We have located the profiles of journalists and social media users who insulted the girl and her family and inflamed and incited the pupils,” the girl stated. “An offensive will be launched against them.
“Social media is not the issue; PTI is the issue. Since social media does not display their faces, they use it.
The girl’s family reportedly contacted CM Maryam and asked that “those who fabricated this story be exposed.”
“Lies are being used to sow chaos throughout Punjab, particularly when foreign dignitaries are in Pakistan for the SCO summit.”
Maryam claimed that a “plan was hatched” to purposefully mislead and incite students via social media, and she charged the PTI with stoking the rumors and taking advantage of them.
The individual “who propagated a blatant lie, incited violence, and provoked the students has been arrested,” according to CM Maryam in a later post on X.
As she had promised, she would not spare anyone involved in the plot and false propaganda that had seriously harmed an innocent girl and her family by accusing them of a rape that never occurred.
“No eyewitnesses”
There were no eyewitnesses, the chief minister continued, “because the incident does not exist.” She introduced the girl seated across from her, whose social media video statement had gone viral. The youngster identified herself as one of the witnesses to the incident in the video.
Maryam disclosed, “This girl is not even from the campus where the alleged incident occurred.” She went on to say that the video was altered and that the purported “eyewitness” had heard it from someone else. A teacher then contacted her to request an interview with the media.
“They made me an eyewitness when I said that kids had heard it,” the girl added. I didn’t claim to have heard it myself.
In the meantime, Maryam presented Dr. Shabnam Gul, a professor at Lahore College Women’s University and the previous chairman of the department dealing with harassment at the college.
Maryam stated, “She also had a viral video.” The harassment committee expelled her. She said that the pupils were provoked and incited and were unaware of the incident.
Dr. Gul added, “I was called for an investigation as my video went viral,” during the press conference. I was asked to give an explanation for agitating the students.
“I tried to calm them down, and I did not incite them,” I told them. She said, “I asked them why they were upset and advised them to speak with the vice chancellor about the issue.
“I was not aware of the strike’s emergence,” she stated. I got a call from my vice chancellor telling me to take charge of the problem. Some kids participated in the problem without fully grasping it, and others who weren’t from the school were also upset about it. Over the issue, they were instructed to hold a strike.
The chief minister asked the Lahore High Court, or any other high court, to investigate the situation before concluding her speech.
“I ask the courts to make sure the people spreading the rumors don’t run away.”
“There is no incident,” the Punjab Group of Colleges claims.
Following days of protests spurred by accusations that surfaced online, senior directors of the Punjab Group of Colleges also stated on Wednesday that there was no proof that a student had been sexually assaulted on campus.
“There is no such incidence. The director of the women’s college administered by the private Punjab Group of Colleges, Arif Chaudry, told reporters, “I will resign and leave this profession and stand with the students if the incident took place.”
At the same press conference, another director of the organization, Agha Tahir Ijaz, stated: “We want the kids to understand that they should not believe misinformation.”
