CHANDIGARH, SEPTEMBER 27: Two major student protests erupted at prominent private universities in Punjab within 24 hours after unverified claims on social media alleged deaths, missing students and sexual assault on campus, triggering panic among students and, in both cases, escalating into violence.
The first protest broke out at Chitkara University near Rajpura on Friday night, followed by unrest at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara on Saturday night and into Sunday.
In both incidents, however, police and university authorities rejected the allegations and said their preliminary inquiries found no evidence to support the claims.
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At Chitkara University, social media posts and reels began circulating on the night of September 25 claiming that two female students were missing from the girls’ hostel or had died by suicide.
Other posts added sensational claims about a supposed “ghost” inside the hostel and alleged that screams had been heard from the premises.
The claims quickly spread among students and triggered a late-night protest on campus, with students demanding answers from university authorities and seeking access to CCTV footage.
The protest subsequently turned violent. Campus property was damaged and a Punjab Police emergency response vehicle was attacked, with its front windshield shattered.
University Registrar Col Rakesh Sharma (retd) and police officials spoke to the protesting students and denied that any such incident had taken place.
Police officials also questioned the basis of the claims, pointing out that students demanding action were unable to provide the names or identities of the alleged missing students.
The university and police maintained that no student had died and no student was missing.
LPU protest follows within a day
Less than 24 hours later, a similar episode unfolded at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara after another set of claims began circulating on social media.
This time, messages alleged that a female student had been sexually assaulted by an outsider on the university campus. Other versions of the claim alleged that the student had subsequently died by suicide.
The posts triggered panic among students, who gathered near the girls’ hostel during the early hours of Sunday.
The situation escalated rapidly, with protesters allegedly throwing bricks, smashing windowpanes and setting objects on fire on the campus. Protesters also breached campus gates and blocked the Jalandhar-Phagwara National Highway, disrupting traffic.
Police were deployed in large numbers to contain the situation and restore order.
Kapurthala SSP Gaurav Toora said the preliminary investigation had found no evidence supporting the allegations.
He also said that police had not received any official complaint concerning the alleged sexual assault.
The police said the situation was subsequently brought under control and that officers continued to monitor both the campus and social media activity.
The two incidents have drawn attention to how quickly unverified social media claims can trigger panic and mobilise large groups of students before the underlying allegations are independently established. In both cases, authorities said the claims circulating online did not match the findings available to them at the time.
