LAHORE: On Wednesday, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered a crackdown on the false rumors surrounding an alleged rape incident at Punjab College Lahore, aiming to curb the spread of misinformation.
Across the country’s largest province, students have been protesting since Monday, calling for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the alleged culprits.
Both students and police were hurt during the demonstrations, although the authorities denied rape and the girl’s family rejected the accusation.
At a Lahore press conference, Maryam Nawaz said, “I chaired the final meeting of the investigative committee and am presenting the facts. I am both a mother and the chief executive of this province and protecting the dignity of women is my responsibility. The police received a report claiming that a student at a private college in Punjab had been raped.”
According to her, “The incident was reported to have occurred on the 10th, but the girl had been hospitalized since the 2nd after a serious fall that left her critically injured and admitted to the ICU. She was wrongly portrayed as a rape victim.”
Maryam Nawaz went on to say that she had a conversation with the girl’s distressed mother.
The mother said she has four more unmarried daughters, and all she wants is for the people who made up this story to be exposed and punished.
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“The students reported that such an incident had occurred, and false accusations were made on social media, creating an issue without any foundation. A campaign was run to mislead the students. I have concluded that after repeated failures of rallies and protests, a despicable and dangerous plan was devised. This was done at a time when the SCO summit is taking place and heads of state are present here”, stated by Punjab CM.
She also declared, “There is a political party called PTI, which I call a terrorist organization. This is their agenda. They orchestrated this conspiracy and used children, making their loyal journalists and vloggers issue statements. A girl was presented as an eyewitness, claiming she heard noises and that rooms in the basement were locked, after which Rescue 1122 was called.”
Maryam Nawaz further said, that we conducted an investigation, and 1122 was not called on that day or in the following days. I obtained videos of the basement, and there are no locks there. Moreover, the girl presented as an eyewitness is not even from that campus. When she said, ‘I’m not from this campus, her statement was edited.
Punjab’s chief minister showed the girl in a video to the media.
According to the Chief Minister of Punjab, the girl had been to two or three hospitals for treatment. On the day the event was reported, she was not at school but in a hospital.
As part of their inquiry, authorities in Sargodha arrested the suspected guard while he was on leave.
It was claimed that the footage was erased, but the protesting students were brought in without fully knowing the situation.
According to Maryam Nawaz, there was no witness to the rape because it didn’t happen.
Additionally, she said, “Later, they continued searching for the alleged victim, but she was not a victim of rape; she was a victim of dirty politics. A false story was concocted about the girl, and a storm was raised on social media. In one video, it was falsely claimed that the girl had passed away, but that statement was proven false. The person who spread the fake news later retracted their statement and issued another video clarification.”
Police wanted the girl to be the complainant, but the Chief Minister said she wanted the authorities to be in charge of the case.
“There will be a crackdown against anyone involved, whether they are journalists, members of PTI, or PML-Q,” remarked Maryam Nawaz.
Sister of PTI politician Zartaj Gul, Professor Shabnam Gul of Lahore College for Women, also spoke to the media at this moment.
While sitting next to the Punjab CM, she said, “I was called in for the investigation. I did not come forward for any political party. I was the convener of the sexual harassment committee. In the investigation, I clarified that I did not incite the students; in fact, I calmed them down. This is a very sensitive matter. The girls had gathered, and I advised them to go to the Vice-Chancellor. I was not part of any protest. This incident happened immediately, and when I informed the Vice Chancellor, they told me to stop it. However, I believe that someone from outside influenced the girls, leading them to become part of the protest.”
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