A University in Pakistan has come under the radar of Police after disturbing allegations of drug trafficking and sexual exploitation involving students and faculty members came to light. The Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB) is facing investigation by cops after explicit videos were found on the mobile phones of the varsity staff. In this process the police have arrested the IUB treasurer and reportedly recovered meth and aphrodisiacs from him, while the varsity’s chief of security is accused of possessing objectionable videos of students and staff members.
The scandal in the varsity has come under the scanner for narcotics and sexual exploitation. The investigation has uncovered several pieces of evidence on the arrested officials’ mobile phones, which include numerous WhatsApp chats, along with explicit videos.
Minister's son allegedly behind this
Allegedly one of the accused behind this heinous event is a son of federal minister, Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema who got addicted to drugs and was sexually exploiting female students of the university.
Cheema was warned about the potential political damage if the videos of his son were made public, a report by Global Village Space said. After this, the minister contacted police officers who were related to him and allegedly sought their assistance in saving his son.
A report by the Dawn states, "Two varsity officials who were arrested on drug charges were involved in blackmail and sexual exploitation of students and university employees." The report claimed the varsity treasurer "confessed that he along with a group of other teachers would purchase and distribute drugs through students and arrange dance/sex parties."
Recovered 5,500 explicit videos
The police has recovered as many as 5,500 porn videos from two mobile phones of Ejaz Shah, all of them featuring university's girls. These mobile phones have been seized. It has been revealed that in lieu of giving marks to the girls, they were asked to make nude videos and send them to Ejaz. This was also done for recruitment to any post in the university as well. Police say that a whole group of teachers was involved in drug peddling and sexual harassment of girls.
The girl students were also forced to be part of dance and sex parties. Drugs were recovered in large quantities. Indecent parties were held inside the campus with girl students and women employees of the college.
A high-level committee has been formed to probe the matter. The Education Department of South Punjab will investigate this. It has been asked to submit the inquiry report in 3 days.
Exploitation of girls from many years
Reports suggest that this illicit trade of drugs and exploitation has been ongoing for several years. Female students from financially weak and vulnerable backgrounds were reportedly targeted in these heinous acts.
The police further claimed that a “group of teachers” would exploit and blackmail girls and implicate them using drugs.
During the arrest of the varsity treasurer, 10 grams of charas (hashish) was found on him. Furthermore, his mobile phone contained numerous explicit videos.
University VC's Letter to IGP
Following this, a retired Major, Aijaz Hussain, who serves as the security officer of the college, was also arrested. So far, three people have been arrested in connection to this case.
Following the police action against the university officials, Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Athar Mehboob wrote to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar, requesting the IG to constitute a high-level inquiry team to investigate the arrests.
“IUB is following zero tolerance policy for the use of contraband drugs as well as sexual harassment or exploitation,” the letter said, adding that the cases against the officials were ‘bogus’.
Pakistan's Higher Education Commission to form a high-level committee to investigate the matter
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has decided to form a high-level committee to investigate the IUB (Islamia University Bahawalpur) scandal, which includes three vice-chancellors and officials from security agencies. The panel has been tasked with conducting a comprehensive inquiry and examining all relevant evidence, including any available digital or physical evidence, testimonies, and other pertinent information, Dawn reported.
