LHC full bench to hear female student harassment cases

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has formed a full court bench to hear the cases linked to harassment of female students in the educational institutes across Punjab. 

LHC Chief Justice Aaliya Neelum expressed ire over the situation in the province in the wake of ongoing protests against alleged rape of a female college-goer, saying that the matter was of immense importance. 

The much-hyped claims of "rape" of a private college's student in Lahore sparked violent protests in the province that continue till date.

Nearly 400 individuals protesting harassments and sexual abuse against female students at educational institutes have been arrested in Rawalpindi alone as Section 144 has been imposed in the province, banning gatherings and demonstrations.

Several hundred others have been booked in Lahore and other cities for the violation of Section 144.

Meanwhile, all private and public schools, universities and colleges in the province remained closed today.

As unrest shrouds Punjab, the LHC took up the matter of three separate incidents including the protests against alleged rape, an alleged suicide in Punjab University and a case of harassment in Lahore College of Women University (LCWU).

During the hearing, Punjab Inspector General of Police Usman Anwer and other officials appeared before the court with complete report sought by the court.

LHC CJ Neelum expressed displeasure with the police chief over failure in preventing the videos from going viral on the social media and controlling enraged students from taking to streets.

She asked the reason for delay in reaching out to the relevant agencies for restricting the viral videos.

At this, IGP Anwer informed the court that they had reached out to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

When asked what role did the provincial government play, Punjab advocate general said that the relevant assistant superintendent of police met family of the private college-goer being linked to alleged rape and checked the CCTV footages.

"Every child protesting was claiming that rape had been committed but no one has the evidence," he said.

He, however, admitted that there were some failures on the authorities' part.

At this, CJ Neelum remarked that the opportunists benefitted from the unrest.

"It is quite unfortunate if all this happened due to a fake news," she stated.

Moreover, the chief justice inquired about the number of complaints regarding harassment in the LCWU.

The government lawyer and college registrar apprised the court that there was only one such complaint and the person who is facing the allegations has been suspended from his post.

CJ Neelum asked if the students were in such a "state of mind" that they can join their colleges again. She directed the authorities to regain the trust of parents.

The LHC CJ also ordered the authorities concerned to prohibit presence of men where ever there are female students in the educational institutes.

While directing the authorities to take the statement from the girl who is being named in the claims pertaining to alleged rape, CJ Neelum warned against pressurising the student in this regard of face action.

The court also ordered the formation of a committee headed by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general (DG) to probe all three cases.

Azam Butt, a citizen of Lahore had filed an application in the LHC, highlighting the case of suicide at PU and alleged on-campus harassment and rape of separate students.

The ongoing protests saw the students ransacking a hostel after forcefully entering the hostel premises, pelted stones and damaged the vehicles there.

The turmoil eventually warranted a strong response from Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz who, while speaking to the media persons on Wednesday, announced a crackdown on those spreading fake news regarding the rape of a student.