Islamabad: Tweets about the alleged rape of a NUST student are nothing but a heinous attempt to defame this prestigious seat of learning, a statement issued by the National University of Science and Technology said on Tuesday.

The statement came after some Twitter accounts claimed that a female student was allegedly raped inside the campus. As NUST became top hashtag trend in Pakistan, the University’s official Twitter account countered the allegations in a strong worded statement.

Here is one of the Tweets regarding the alleged incident which Sabahat Zakariya, a Lahore-based journalist, retweeted with a comment.

This is happening at #NUST. Who is responsible for taking the university’s authorities to task? I visited the place a couple of weeks ago and it has some very bright kids trying to change things, but nothing is possible without institutional support when it is most needed. https://t.co/2Pi2rg474r — Sabahat Zakariya (@sabizak) December 24, 2019

Hundreds of Tweets poured in to condemn the incident while demanding an inquiry.

NUST, however, rejected the allegations as fake stating that a thorough investigation carried out into the matter has found that no such incident took place inside the university.

Here is the complete statement issued by NUST in four tweets:

“What kind of a person makes fabricated rape accusations? Let’s start with the thought-provoking fact that false rape allegations ruin lives, reputations and futures. Indeed, propagating such incorrect news is the most horrendous and shameless of acts.

Recent tweets about the alleged rape of a NUST student are nothing but a heinous attempt to defame this prestigious seat of learning, a desperate act of seeking attention, and a complete hoax!

A thorough investigation into the matter has been carried out, as the security & well-being of everyone on campus is an absolute priority for the NUST management. The investigation revealed that no such incident has taken place.

Please rest assured that NUST is safe, and people have no reason to pay heed to this deceitful accusation”.

A screenshot of the tweets sent out by NUST

Public Policy & Development Specialist Salman Sufi urged NUST to allow independent investigation into the rape allegations.

“I am sure you understand that you can’t be the authority to investigate your own self. Rape is a serious & disturbing crime that can’t be left to tweets,” he said on Twitter.