Students say ‘no rape incident happened’ in LPU video, then allege it was scripted

CHANDIGARH: Three female students whose video was released by Lovely Professional University (LPU) to counter allegations of a rape on campus have now alleged that they were told what to say and that parts of their statements were edited before the video was published without their consent.The development comes after LPU management denied the allegations, with Registrar Monica Gulati saying some “anti-social elements” were spreading “false, baseless and fabricated” claims.The university had released a video statement featuring the three students, who were identified as residents of Room No. 504 of the hostel. In the video, they said no rape incident had taken place in their room and that they had been living there for the past two months.In the video, Dr Gulati said, “I would like you to hear what the girls residing in room number 504 of GH3 told us.”The first student said, “So, we are the residents of room number 504. Nothing of that sort happened in our room; we have been living here for the past two months. Please, police and students, do not bother us. Nothing like that happened in our room, and we are not involved in this at all.”The second student added, “We have been extremely distressed today, and if we face further trouble, we will involve our parents. Please do not harass us.”The third said, “And the police should also stop coming to our room repeatedly; otherwise, we will call our parents.”Dr Gulati closed the video by claiming that the protests and unrest were part of a conspiracy to defame the university through false and fabricated rumours.“The only conclusion to be drawn from all this is that anti-social elements and individuals with vested interests are behind this,” she said.But the same students later came forward with a different account, alleging that the university administration had instructed them what to say.One student said, “LPU administration told us to record all this and say it for them. We were just instructed to say that students and others are bothering us. Half of our video was trimmed and posted on Instagram, about which we had no idea. Our consent was not taken. This was done without informing us, and now we are facing unnecessary abuse.”A second student added, “We have no involvement in this. A random room was picked and named. We have absolutely no role in this. Please leave us alone.”The controversy comes amid protests at the LPU campus in Phagwara over claims that an outsider raped a female student on the university premises.Students vandalised property and blocked NH-44 on Sunday as the protests escalated.Police said protesters pelted stones at personnel and attacked their vehicles, leaving several policemen injured. Two police vehicles were also set on fire, while Jalandhar Rural SSP Harvinder Singh Virk said four to five police vehicles were damaged.A large police force led by ADGP M F Farooqui later entered the campus and said the situation had been brought under control.“The situation has been brought under control. Traffic movement on NH-44 will be restored soon,” DIG (Jalandhar Range) Naveen Singla said.LPU has suspended classes for 10 days from Monday, while midterm examinations have been postponed until further notice.