A woman accused of spreading “fake news” of a college campus rape that went viral this month was arrested in Lahore on Thursday, 10 days after being taken into custody from Karachi.
On October 22, police arrested the suspect, Sara Khan, in Karachi and transferred her to Lahore. On the same day, a case was registered against her at the Gulberg Police Station under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and other relevant sections.
The woman had claimed on social media that she was the mother of the affected student.
Protests broke out in the provincial capital Lahore last week after social media reports spread that a female student was raped in the basement of the Punjab College for Women campus.
Police arrested a security guard who was identified in online posts but said no victim had come forward and that they had not been able to verify the rape allegation.
The protests since spread to campuses across Lahore as well as the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where police fired tear gas and charged at the students, who have accused the authorities of a cover-up.
