The Institute of Business Management (IoBM) on Monday reversed its decision to expel a student who has accused the university’s transport department of harassment and voiced complaints against two senior faculty members after students rallied in support of the student.
The incident
About a month ago, the female student in question, enrolled in the university’s BBA programme, entered the transport office at IOBM to collect her ID card. Ten minutes later she left the room in a panic, shaking and crying. She ran towards the HR department, where she told that Mr S* and B* from the Transport Office had tried to lock the door with her in it.
“[When I went to collect my card] They started staring at me strangely, and kept looking me up and down. Then one of the men started recording me. The other man moved towards the door and tried to lock it.”
The student only managed to escape because her peers outside the office responded to her screams, allowing her to escape the room.
The HR department heard the panicked female student. Then she simply told her that this was not their domain as it was not their department. The female student was accused of “overreacting” and called a “liar”.
Stunned, the female student informed her family and went to two senior faculty members and told them what had happened.
“Aggressive Behavior”
At first the two female faculty members comforted her. However, when her enraged brother arrived, the reassurances turned to anger at the student.
A heated argument broke out between the student’s family and the university staff, with the HR department completely denying being informed about the matter.
According to the student, the university administration accused her and her family of “engaging in aggressive behavior towards administrative staff”. They used this as grounds for expulsion when in fact, the student insists, it was the staff who had misbehaved with her family.
In the days that followed, the student was summoned to a disciplinary committee where she was accused of bad behavior and harassment by senior faculty members.
She was the “permanently expelled”.
“After careful consideration, the committee has determined that you are guilty of misbehaving with staff in three offices at the Institute, which are Transport, HR and Academics. Your behavior has created a chaotic situation in the above-mentioned respective offices,” read the expulsion email.
The students answer
On October 22, the female student took to social media. Detailing the events at the transportation office and her subsequent expulsion, she posted on an informal campus group.
The post quickly gained traction and was shared widely among the students. Her peers voiced support and galvanized against the administrator, gathering outside the main administration block the next day.
Hundreds of students protested against the administrator, holding placards and shouting slogans in support of the female student, enraged by the alleged harassment and subsequent mistreatment of the student.
A spokesperson for the university says so Express Pakinomist that classes had to be moved online due to growing anti-management sentiment among students.
As news of the student protests spread, the IoBM was forced to reconsider its decision and sprung into action.
“Universities in Pakistan mostly believe that students can be isolated, singled out and bullied, and since there are no student unions that would care. However, IOBM students proved the administration wrong, which has now reportedly led to the firing of the transport officer the student had originally complained about,” lawyer Jibran Nasir wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
IOBM students are uniting to demand justice for a fellow female student who was allegedly expelled for complaining about alleged harassment she suffered as the university responded by accusing her of being disrespectful to staff.
Universities in Pakistan mostly think… pic.twitter.com/JcQ7ObXQ2q
— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) 24 October 2025
