Pakistan province shuts schools, universities amid student unrest
Social media reports that a woman student was raped in the basement of a Punjab College for Women, sparking riots.
Students hurl stones towards security personnel during a demonstration to condemn the alleged rape of a female student in Rawalpindi on Oct 17, 2024.
AFP/Ghulam Rasool
LAHORE (AFP) — Authorities in Pakistan’s most populous province ordered all educational institutes shut for Friday, as students stage protests after reports of a college campus rape spread online.
The closure, which encompasses playgroups to universities, will affect about 26 million children in addition to adult learners in eastern Punjab province.
Protests broke out in the provincial capital Lahore after social media reports spread that a woman student was raped in the basement of a Punjab College for Women campus over the weekend.
The police, college and provincial government have said that no victim has come forward and blame misinformation online.
The protests have since spread to campuses across Lahore as well as the city of Rawalpindi, which neighbors the capital Islamabad, with students accusing authorities of a cover-up.
On Friday, senior Rawalpindi police officer Syed Khalid Mehmood Hamdani said 380 people had been arrested over vandalism and arson at protests in the city the previous day and investigations were continuing.
“We will track down people from social media,” he told Agence France-Presse.
Punjab’s education and interior departments ordered the closure of all educational departments in three separate notifications late Thursday, without mentioning the alleged rape or protests.
The provincial interior department has also banned gatherings on Friday and Saturday.
“They’ve bribed the government and top officials to cover up the truth, just to protect their institution’s reputation,” claimed one 19-year-old student protesting Thursday in Rawalpindi.
The protests reflect a deep concern among Pakistani students over safety, harassment, and sexual assault against women at colleges, as well as mistrust in authorities.
The demonstrators, who are mostly male students, have smashed windows and burned school buses at campuses in Lahore. Students have also clashed with police at many of the demonstrations.
Police arrested a security guard who was identified in online posts but said no victim had come forward and that they had not been able to verify the rape allegation.