Students of a private university near Rajpura in Punjab’s Patiala district held a massive protest on the campus on Friday night and allegedly damaged a state police patrol vehicle following unverified claims about the alleged suicide of two female students. Punjab Police said they were conducting an inquiry into the matter.
The students gathered on the university campus, raised questions about the circumstances surrounding the alleged deaths and sought clarification regarding two ambulances that were reportedly seen leaving the university campus on the day of the incident. They asked university authorities who had been taken in the ambulances and where they had been taken.
The protesters raised slogans of “We Want Justice” amid the unverified claims.
The students also asked about reports of someone screaming on the night of the alleged incident and sought to know whether the university had any information about what had happened. The protest came amid growing questions among students about the circumstances surrounding the alleged incident. They also sought clarity from the university administration regarding the sequence of events and the action taken by authorities.
Some purported videos showing damage to a police vehicle also surfaced on social media.
A local police officer said the police had received a complaint from students during the protest over the allegations concerning the two female students. The students also raised questions about reports of screams allegedly heard from a girls’ hostel and sought to know whether university authorities had any information about what had happened.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Banur Sukhdev Singh, Rajpura SHO Gursewak Singh and Rajpura Sadar SHO Kirpal Mohi reached the university and took stock of the situation.
The administration of Chitkara University, located near Rajpura in Patiala district, however, denied that any suicide incident had taken place on the campus and urged students not to pay heed to rumours.
In a social media post, Chitkara University asked students not to believe unverified stories and rumours circulating in some groups.
“The local administration and police authorities are working closely with our campus team to address the unsubstantiated claims of some students. We are committed to providing a safe experience to our student community at all times. All academic and placement initiatives will continue as per the announced schedule for Saturday (September 26). Students are advised to rely only on official university communication and report any genuine concerns directly to university authorities,” the university said.
Chitkara University Registrar Col Rakesh Sharma (Retd), who interacted with the protesting students, also categorically denied that any such incident had taken place at the university.
“No such incident has taken place at the university. These are all rumours,” Sharma said, adding that CCTV footage would be checked.
DSP Sukhdev Singh said students had claimed that two female students were missing.
“We have met students here and received their complaint. But nobody knows who is missing. They do not even know the names of any of the girls who are allegedly missing. But there is a rumour that two girls are missing. Considering the seriousness of the matter, we have received a complaint from students. We will investigate it. We will verify whether any student is missing and, if anyone is found to be missing, necessary action will be taken,” he said.
