Two private university campuses in Punjab, located around 140 km apart, witnessed unrest on successive nights, with rumours and allegations involving the safety of female students triggering protests.
Chitkara University near Rajpura saw tension and violence on September 25, while Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara, southeast of Jalandhar, witnessed protests that turned violent on September 26 and 27, according to reports.
At Chitkara University, rumours about a ghost in the girls’ hostel and claims that two female students were missing or had died spread among students. At LPU, students protested over allegations that a hostel resident had been raped and later died by suicide. The claims at both campuses brought students out of their hostels and eventually led to clashes and police intervention.
The similarities between the two incidents have prompted questions about a possible connection. However, Special DGP Parveen Sinha said there was no link between the violence at Chitkara University and LPU.
At Chitkara, rumours about a ghost reportedly began circulating on September 23, two days before the protests turned violent. At LPU, students started gathering on the night of September 26, with the situation escalating into violence and a blockade of the highway in the early hours of September 27.
Social media posts and videos added to concerns among students about the safety of women staying in the hostels. University authorities and police, however, said the claims circulating online had not been backed by evidence.
By Monday, more than 2,000 police personnel had reportedly been deployed around LPU. ADGP M F Farooqui told ANI that law and order had been restored.
LPU suspended regular classes for 10 days from Monday and postponed its mid-term examinations. Chitkara University also suspended academic activities until October 1 following the unrest. Regular classes there are scheduled to resume on October 5.
At Chitkara, a speaker prank turns into a ghost rumour
The incident at Chitkara began with what police described as a prank involving frightening sounds.
Banur SHO Gursewak Singh told The Indian Express that some girls allegedly played scary sounds through a speaker inside the hostel on September 23. The hostel warden checked the rooms but did not find anything unusual.
Soon after, another story began circulating that the hostel was haunted by a student who had died by suicide three years ago. Police described this as part of the rumours spreading among students.
The arrival of an ambulance and a priest on the campus the following day further fuelled speculation.
According to a clarification issued by the university and reported by The Indian Express, the ambulance had brought a student back from hospital at around 2.50 am on September 24. The priest had arrived at around 3 pm to meet his daughter, who was a student at the university.
The university said there was no death or suicide connected to the incident.
Claims of missing girls remain unsubstantiated
By Friday night, hundreds of students had gathered at Chitkara University seeking answers. Police teams from Banur, Rajpura Sadar and Rajpura City reached the campus as tensions increased.
Several incidents of vandalism were reported, with at least two police vehicles damaged. A police officer was also allegedly manhandled.
Police said the claims about missing girls could not be substantiated. According to The Times of India, protesters were unable to provide names, photographs, roll numbers or other details of the alleged missing students.
SHO Gursewak Singh said no student had been reported missing or harmed. Investigators were looking into how the rumours began and the subsequent vandalism.
LPU protest follows rape allegation
At LPU, students alleged that an outside worker had sexually assaulted a student inside a girls’ hostel, The Tribune reported. Accounts differed on whether the person was a painter, plumber or construction worker.
Some protesters also claimed that the student had later returned home and died by suicide. These claims have not been independently verified.
Kapurthala police nevertheless registered an FIR against an unidentified person after receiving a complaint from hostel students. A Special Investigation Team has also been formed to investigate the matter.
DIG Naveen Singla told The Indian Express that the investigation would include forensic evidence, CCTV footage and phone data, with student representatives involved in the process.
Senior police officers told the newspaper that preliminary enquiries had not established the alleged incident at the location identified by protesters. The FIR was registered to investigate the students’ complaint, but police have not yet established whether the alleged assault took place.
Questions over LPU video of hostel students
LPU’s attempt to address the rape allegations led to another controversy after the university released a video featuring three students from the hostel room mentioned by protesters.
The students later alleged that university officials had told them what to say, edited the recording and released it without their consent, The Times of India reported.
One student said their consent had not been taken, while another claimed that their room had been randomly mentioned in connection with the allegations and asked to be left alone.
The students’ statements did not establish that a rape had occurred. However, their allegations about the recording raised questions over how the university had obtained and used the video.
LPU unrest reaches highway
The protests at LPU later spread to the Jalandhar-Phagwara highway, where traffic was disrupted.
Campus property and nearby shops were damaged, while furniture and vehicles were reportedly set on fire. Videos circulating on social media showed protesters climbing onto a displayed MiG-23 fighter aircraft and a military tank.
A police vehicle was also set on fire on Sunday night as the situation remained tense.
There were differing accounts of the police response. Protesters alleged that police used a lathicharge, while police denied this and accused protesters of pelting stones.
“Police personnel have sustained injuries. Police vehicles have been damaged,” Jalandhar SSP Harvinder Singh Virk said, according to India Today.
The highway blockade was lifted and later reimposed during Sunday, affecting traffic heading towards other parts of Punjab as well as Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, The Times of India reported.
Punjab Police is examining the circumstances behind both protests and whether there was any connection between the two incidents. However, an inquiry into a possible connection does not itself establish that the protests were coordinated.
While concerns about girls’ hostels brought students out at both universities, the allegations were different and are being investigated separately.
With classes suspended at both campuses, uncertainty over the incidents and the violence that followed have left many students concerned.