LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Authorities in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province shut all schools and universities for two days on Friday in an attempt to contain the spread of protests by students over an alleged on-campus rape. The closures in Pakistan’s most populous province affect an estimated 18 million students.

Punjab authorities also ban gatherings as hundreds are arrested while protesting reports of a rape on a college campus.

The government of Pakistan’s largest province of Punjab has banned all public gatherings and closed educational institutions as more protests against an alleged on-campus rape of a college student in Lahore are expected on Friday.

Authorities in Punjab, Pakistan, closed educational institutions following violent student protests over an alleged on-campus rape. Despite official denials of the incident, social media fueled tensions.

Protests spread across Pakistan following the alleged rape of a college student. The demand for justice escalated into violence in Lahore and Rawalpindi, with reports of vandalism and arson at various public and private institutions.

Pakistani police fired tear gas and charged student protesters who ransacked a college building Thursday, as anger spread over an alleged on-campus rape. Tensions have been high on college campuses since reports about the alleged rape in the eastern city of Lahore went viral on social media,

Videos of thousands of students engaging in an impromptu protest in Rawalpindi against the rape of a female student in PGC Lahore went viral on Thursday.

Protests sparked by an alleged rape incident in Pakistan's Punjab province took a violent turn, resulting in widespread clashes, vandalism, and arson across various cities.