BAHAWALPUR, Dec 17: The Quaid-i-Azam Medical College announced on Wednesday that now the college would remain closed from Dec 17 to Dec 25 for a vacation due to students’ continued protest over non-acceptance of their demands.

Earlier, the college was to be closed from Dec 24 to Jan 3, 2004, for winter vacation. However, the students’ rallies and hunger strike have forced the college administration to close the college a week earlier.

On the other hand, the students said they would not go home and continue their protest. The college administration also announced that they would forcibly get the hostels vacated, if the students did not follow its instructions.

The students, in the meantime, continued protest on the sixth consecutive day. They staged a sit-in and set up a camp outside the main gate of the college where they observed token hunger strike for over four hours, obstructing the flow of traffic on the Circular Road.

The students said District Nazim Tariq Cheema also had visited them at the medical colony and listened to their demands. He also directed the college administration to look into their demands.

It is also learnt that the district government officials held a meeting with the college administration to glean information about the issue.

RAPE CASE: A girl was gang-raped by four people near Mauza Khairpur, about 40 kilometres from here, on Wednesday.