LAHORE: Authorities in Pakistan's most populous province ordered all educational institutes shut for Friday (Oct 18), as students stage protests after reports of a college campus rape spread online.

The closure, which encompasses playgroups to universities, will affect about 26 million children and adult learners in eastern Punjab province.

Protests broke out in the provincial capital Lahore after social media reports spread that a female student was raped in the basement of a Punjab College for Women campus over the weekend.

The police, college and provincial government have said that no victim has come forward and blamed misinformation online.

The protests have since spread to campuses across Lahore as well as the city of Rawalpindi, which neighbours the capital Islamabad, with students accusing authorities of a cover-up.

On Friday, senior Rawalpindi police officer Syed Khalid Mehmood Hamdani said 380 people had been arrested over vandalism and arson at protests in the city the previous day and investigations were continuing.

"We will track down people from social media," he told AFP.

Punjab's education and interior departments ordered the closure of all educational departments in three separate notifications late on Thursday, without mentioning the alleged rape or protests.

The provincial interior department has also banned gatherings on Friday and Saturday.

"They've bribed the government and top officials to cover up the truthhuuugebet, just to protect their institution's reputation," claimed one 19-year-old student protesting on Thursday in Rawalpindi.

Students gather during a demonstration to condemn the alleged rape of a female student in Rawalpindi on Oct 17, 2024. (File photo: AFP/Ghulam Rasool)

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