LAHORE: The Punjab University has constituted a three-member committee to investigate the thrashing of a student’s husband by some members of the student organisation Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) at its campus.
Videos circulating on social media showed some IJT students beating up a man at the university’s campus, as a large crowd of people looked on while a woman screamed at the alleged perpetrators to stop.
The man Awais, a producer at a local TV channel, had reportedly gone to pick up his wife, an MPhil student, from the campus and was having lunch with her when the said group of students gathered around the couple and started thrashing him.
According to a report prepared by the chief security officer of Punjab University detailing the incident, the couple were speaking loudly when the security guard deployed nearby went up to them and “asked them to prove their identity but in a rough manner. Due to this, Mr Awais got annoyed and started exchanging harsh words” with the guard which resulted in a “physical fight between the security guard and Mr Awais.”
Two to three students passing by, reportedly associated with IJT, approached the commotion and inquired. “In return, Mr Awais reacted which led to a fight between the students and Mr Awais,” the report states.
Following an inquiry into the incident, the security guard was suspended for 10 days, whereas the two students involved in the fight were referred to the disciplinary committee, the report added.
The committee, headed by Vice-Chancellor Dr Niaz Ahmed, met today to probe the incident. The guard and the IJT members in question were presented before the committee, and the three were issued show cause notices.
The IJT members, however, denied their involvement in the matter and said they were “simply trying to [pacify] the situation when some elements recorded our video and started this propaganda against us.”
Meanwhile, the guard said he had been made the scapegoat and was forced to apologise.
The committee will take a final decision on Monday regarding the matter.
