The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday announced the constitution of a full court bench to hear various cases concerning the harassment of female students, as well as disinformation on social media, observing the matter was of immense importance.
LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum took up three separate petitions pertaining to the alleged harassment of women at educational institutions: the alleged rape of a student at a Lahore campus of the Punjab College Group; the alleged suicide of a student at Punjab University; and the alleged harassment of a student at the Lahore College of Women University.
Since Monday, students across Punjab have been protesting over reports of the alleged rape of a student in Lahore. A government inquiry has found no evidence of any rape, but this has failed to dampen the protests, as students accuse the government of a cover-up. The government, however, has alleged the protests are being incited by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), with Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz accusing the party of seeking to spread anarchy in the province.
The protests have at times turned violent, with hundreds taken into custody for alleged vandalism, arson and damage to public and private property. During Monday’s proceedings, LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum censured the Punjab Inspector General of Police for failing to prevent the spread of videos containing disinformation or preventing students from rioting in various cities of the province. She then questioned the delay in police approaching relevant agencies to restrict access to the inciting videos.
Defending the police, the IGP informed the court they had contacted the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. He said over 700 social media accounts that shared the fake news were identified and lamented that even England lacked the authority to prevent the upload of any offensive content. To this, Justice Neelum directed him not to give England as an example.
The IGP stressed that police had acted in accordance with their authority and informed relevant agencies but they had been unable to take any action. Justice Neelum maintained the work could be accomplished with “intent,” to which the police chief said, “Of course, we had the intention.”
Similarly, the Punjab advocate general said the relevant assistant superintendent of police had met the family of the alleged rape victim and examined all CCTV footages from the campus. “Every child protesting was claiming that rape had been committed but no one has the evidence,” he said, while admitting the authorities could have acted sooner.
He said students from various campuses had reached the site of the alleged crime, stressing the situation unfolded in an “organized” manner. He said the students claimed a girl who was not attending college due to an injury was the rape victim. “I can arrange your meeting with this girl if you say so,” he said. He also lamented that when the government acted against people who had shared the fake news, the courts granted them freedom. He noted a “man who calls himself a lawyer made a video referring to these girls,” but was discharged from the case by a magistrate despite clear evidence of his involvement. “There is a new practice of acquittal from cases; whoever we arrest becomes a hero the next day,” he regretted.
Observing that opportunists had benefitted from the unrest, the LHC CJ remarked it was unfortunate that the protests arose from fake news. She then directed the police to take the statement of the alleged rape victim and warned of strict action if were put under any pressure.
Also on Friday, the LHC chief justice inquired about the number of complaints regarding harassment at the LCWU. The government lawyer and college registrar informed the court only one complaint was received, adding the accused person had been suspended. Questioning if the students had the peace of mind to rejoin their colleges, she directed authorities to regain the trust of parents. She also directed authorities concerned to ban the presence of men in women’s colleges.
The court then ordered the formation of a committee headed by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general (DG) to probe all three cases. She also clubbed the case of Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari’s fake videos with the three cases and said they would be heard by a full bench on Oct. 22.