LPU students allege arbitrary discipline and academic retaliation behind campus distrust
The allegation of a sexual assault at Lovely Professional University remains under investigation. But for several students who spoke to The Pioneer, the weekend’s unrest was also an eruption of anger over how the university exercises control on campus.
The students did not want to be named, saying they feared academic consequences. Their accounts could not be independently verified, and The Pioneer found no documentary evidence supporting some of the most serious allegations.
However, their descriptions point to a breakdown of trust between students and the university. They allege that complaints are routinely dismissed while disciplinary powers can be used without clear reasons or a meaningful appeal.
A disciplinary system students fear
LPU uses the term Unfair Means Case, or UMC, in its student rules and communications. Publicly available university documents refer to UMC proceedings alongside disciplinary action and placements.
Students told The Pioneer that the term is also used for alleged misconduct outside examinations. They said faculty members and security guards can initiate cases for violating campus rules, damaging property or possessing prohibited substances.
The university’s published disciplinary rules list punishments for misconduct. They also give the competent university authority the final say on matters not expressly covered by the rules.
Students allege that the process operates differently in practice. According to them, the person initiating a case can influence whether it is treated as a major or minor violation and what consequences follow.
Several students alleged that faculty members had used UMC proceedings after personal disputes. They claimed students could be booked for conduct as minor as talking in class, without receiving a clear explanation or a fair chance to contest the case.
They made separate allegations against campus security guards. Students claimed guards were rewarded for registering cases and had planted cigarettes or tobacco in boys’ hostel rooms before blaming residents.
The Pioneer could not verify the allegation that guards receive incentives for filing cases. It also could not independently confirm the allegations that prohibited items had been planted.
Students said disciplinary action could lead to a 15-day attendance block, suspension from classes, restrictions on examinations or exclusion from placement drives. The exact penalty, they alleged, depended on how the case was classified.
Allegations of academic retaliation
A third-year computer science student alleged that a coding faculty member targeted her after a dispute. She claimed the faculty member failed her in an end-term assessment despite her performance during the academic year.
The student did not provide records that would allow The Pioneer to compare her internal and end-term marks. Her allegation therefore remains unverified.
Another student described the death of a final-year student several months ago and alleged that a disciplinary case had affected his placement eligibility. According to the account, the student sought written justification from the university and a faculty member but received no answer before his death.
The Pioneer could not independently establish the identity of the student in this account or verify that a UMC contributed to his death. Published reporting shows that 20-year-old LPU student Nikhil Simak died after falling from the university’s central library building on February 16, 2026.
The Tribune reported that police were investigating the circumstances of Simak’s death. The report did not mention a disciplinary case, placement restrictions or an academic dispute.
At least five deaths reported since 2022
There is no publicly available official count of student deaths or suicides at LPU. A review by The Pioneer found at least five student deaths on the campus reported by established news organisations since September 2022.
In September 2022, first-year design student Agin S Dileep was found unresponsive in his hostel room. Police registered an abetment case against a professor from his previous institution after recovering notes that named the professor, The Indian Express reported.
In May 2024, first-year engineering student Mayank died after being taken from an LPU hostel to hospital. The university described the death as suicide, while police said at the time that they were investigating several possibilities and had not confirmed the cause.
In November 2024, MBA student Anushka Aggarwal reportedly died after falling from the sixth floor of a girls’ hostel. The Tribune reported the death as suicide.
In February 2026, Nikhil Simak died after falling from the ninth floor of the central library building. Police said they were examining the circumstances, according to The Tribune.
On September 10, 2026, 21-year-old B.Tech Agriculture student Laxmi Chandra died after falling from the seventh floor of a girls’ hostel. Police said the circumstances were unclear and later sent her phone for forensic examination.
A sixth campus death appears in older news records. In April 2011, 22-year-old civil engineering student Johny Lall Mangahi Zuala died from injuries sustained during a football match altercation. Three foreign students were later acquitted after a court found that prosecutors had not established their role beyond reasonable doubt.
These reports establish a documented minimum, not a complete tally. They do not support the broader student claim that suicides occur nearly every semester or have been concealed for decades.
A protest larger than one allegation
The immediate protest began after students circulated claims that a woman had been sexually assaulted by an outsider inside a hostel. LPU called the allegation false and fabricated, while police registered a rape case against an unidentified person and formed a Special Investigation Team.
Police said their preliminary inquiries had not substantiated the allegation. The SIT includes police officers and student representatives and is examining CCTV footage, phones and other evidence.
The university released a video featuring three students from the hostel room linked to the circulating claims. The students later alleged that they had been instructed what to say and that the recording was trimmed and posted without their consent.
PTI reported that one student said the video had been posted without their knowledge and had exposed them to abuse. The authenticity and full circumstances of the later video have not been independently established.
The protest escalated into vandalism, arson and a blockade of National Highway 44. Police used force after personnel and vehicles were attacked, while LPU suspended classes for 10 days and postponed mid-term examinations.
Students who spoke to The Pioneer did not defend the violence. Their accounts instead described the disputed assault claim as the trigger for grievances that had accumulated around discipline, hostel security and fear of academic retaliation.
The sexual assault allegation, the handling of the university video and the circumstances of Laxmi Chandra’s death are now under separate scrutiny. The Punjab State Women Commission has asked police and district officials for reports on the FIR, SIT and campus safety arrangements.
LPU administration has not responded to requests for a comment.This section will be updated if and when they respond.
