Protesters have shaken several Pakistani cities in the past week, since rumors of a rape on a campus in Lahore began spreading on social media. The students are demanding that the matter be taken seriously and that the alleged victim receives justice.
The demonstrators, mostly men, are reported to have burned down school buses, blocked roads, and vandalized school buildings. The school in question – as well as the parents of the alleged victim – have denied the assault, but the protests have continued.
The incident did not occur. I will resign, leave my profession, and join the students if this incident actually happened, said the school's principal Arif Chaudry on Wednesday.
Sexual violence against women is common in Pakistan, but the dark figure is estimated to be large due to the widespread stigma in the conservative country. This week's protests come just a month after another high-profile rape case in Pakistan, where a man threw his wife out on the street after she claimed to have been gang-raped.
