a moral dilema--what to do?

This is my 200th post. yeah.




This post is about a moral dilema I've recently had.

Please, if anyone had any suggestions, let me know.



here it goes:


In the past week, a rumor has been circulating that at the north campus of the university where I live, two Chinese, female students were raped by a foreign student—a Pakistani male. The girls are unable to identify the rapist, because the incident happened late at night, in the dark, and because they are unaccustomed to being around people of other races, and they think all Pakistanis look the same. There are about 125 Pakistani men and women who attend this university to study medicine, and so far the rapist hasn’t been found.
Meanwhile, during the last month, three Pakistani males have been sitting in my one of my English classes because they are interested in improving their English skills. These three boys are polite, cheerful and have befriended many students in the class. Recently we all went on a field trip where a few of my nervous, shy female, Chinese students were able to converse and laugh with the Pakistani students for the first time.
But ever since the rumored rape, many of the female students in my class don’t feel comfortable with our new Pakistani friends and don’t want them to be allowed to sit in my class. All the trust and understanding felt by my Chinese students towards the Pakistani students has been replaced with anger and mistrust.
I understand why my female students may feel fearful, and I want to make sure they feel safe in class. I also feel sure that the three Pakistani boys who attend my class are not to blame, and I feel sorry that they have to suffer discrimination because someone of the same race committed a terrible act.
I don’t know if I should tell them to stop coming to my class because of the distrust from my female students, or continue to allow them, and run the class as usual. They technically aren’t in the class and I could give them some excuse about the class already being too crowded—blah, blah, blah.
The Chinese in this small city are generally unaccustomed to people of other races, backgrounds, and countries. Towards certain groups of foreigners they are ignorant, racist and xenophobic—but will mind their own business and be peaceful just as long as the outsiders do the same. The general feeling is that they are not interested in “dialoging” or forming a bridge of understanding. To add, I don’t feel it is my place to force mediation between these two groups.
I am torn between my sensitivities towards racial discrimination, and my sensitivities to women feeling safe.

What should I do?
Any Suggestions?