LAHORE, Pakistan: More than two dozen students were injured in clashes with Pakistani police over reports of an on-campus rape of a young woman, officials said Wednesday.

The students were hurt in violence on Monday and Tuesday in the eastern city of Lahore in Punjab province after reports about the alleged rape were spread on social media.

Students initially protested on the campus of the private college but later gathered outside the provincial assembly, where they clashed with police.

The college administration denied there was an assault, as did the teenager’s parents.

Sexual violence against women is common in Pakistan but is underreported because of the stigma attached to it in the conservative country. Protests about sexual violence against women are uncommon.

A special committee formed by the provincial government said the alleged victim said she slipped at her home on Oct. 2 and was taken to a hospital, where she was treated until Oct. 11. It said the student was absent from college from Oct. 3 to 15.

The Federal Investigation Agency said it was looking into the case, including identifying people who spread the reports on social media.

The Sustainable Social Development Organization said last month that there were 7,010 rape cases reported in Pakistan in 2023, with almost 95 percent of them in Punjab province.

“However, due to social stigmas in Pakistan that discourage women from getting help, there is a high chance that due to underreporting the actual number of cases may be even higher,” it said.

This week’s protests came less than a month after a woman said she was gang raped when on duty during a polio vaccination drive in southern Sindh province.

Police arrested three men. Her husband threw her out of the house after the reported assault, saying she had tarnished the family name.

ISLAMABAD: Indian External Affairs Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar spoke about a lack of trust and good neighborliness within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) while addressing the regional summit in Islamabad on Wednesday, saying the issue had been preventing collaboration and integration among member nations.
In the first visit by an Indian minister since Sushma Swaraj in 2015, Jaishankar arrived in Pakistan a day earlier to attend the SCO meeting and had a brief interaction with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Pakistan had extended an invitation to Indian Premier Narendra Modi to attend the event, though New Delhi decided its delegation would be led by its top diplomat.
Jaishankar made his statement to the forum shortly after the Pakistani PM delivered his keynote speech, in which he called for regional connectivity and economic integration, urging member states to rise above their political considerations for the prosperity of the region.
The Indian minister referred to the SCO charter, noting that the regional organization sought greater cooperation, but also highlighted three major challenges of “terrorism, separatism and extremism.”
“It is … essential that we have an honest conversation,” he told the forum. “If trust is lacking or cooperation inadequate, if friendship has fallen short and good neighborliness is missing somewhere, there are surely reasons to introspect and causes to address.”
“Equally, it is only when we reaffirm our commitment most sincerely to the Charter that we can fully realize the benefits of cooperation and integration that it envisages,” he added.
Jaishankar also urged the SCO to take cognizance of rapid global changes, noting that India had been advocating for the representation of developing nations at the United Nations Security Council, “both in the permanent and non-permanent categories.”
“The SCO must be in the lead of advocating such change, not hold back on a matter of such importance,” he added.
The Indian minister emphasized the need for SCO member nations to renew their commitment to achieving the objectives outlined in the organization’s charter.
“That means recognizing the current constraints on our cooperation and focusing on the pathway forward,” he added.