BAHAWALPUR: A student was arrested on Wednesday after he stabbed his professor to death here at Government Sadiq Egerton (S.E) College for organising a mixed-gender reception at the institution, police and witnesses said.

According to college and police sources, Senior Associate Professor (English) Khalid Waheed was in the staff room when Khatib Hussain, a student of BS English (fifth semester), entered and stabbed him with a knife, inflicting severe wounds on him.

“The professor had organised a mixed-gender reception for the new students and the event was supposed to take place on Thursday,” a police official said.

According to the report registered with the police, the student had shouted that he killed the professor because he was “spreading obscenity”.

The attacker was overpowered by other teachers who also seized the knife.

Meanwhile, the college administration called the police and handed over the attacker, who was then shifted to the Civil Lines police station.

The teacher died while being shifted to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital. The police moved the body to the morgue where a post-mortem examination was conducted.

District police spokesman Umar Saleem said the mot­ive behind the murder had not been ascertained so far.

However, according to college sources, Khatib Hussain had raised objections to the mixed-gender welcome party, terming some of its events “against Islamic injunctions”.

These sources said the suspect had an argument with the deceased over the issue.

Mr Saleem said a case was being registered by the Civil Lines police against the suspect on the complaint of Waleed Khan, son of the deceased teacher.

Waleed Khan, who was with his father, said the student was waiting for Prof Waheed. “As my father was about to step into his office, the guy attacked him with a knife, hitting him at his head and stomach,” he said. “My father then fell down and I rushed to him, the student held his knife and started shouting ‘I have killed him, I had told him that a mixed-gender reception is against Islam’,” he said.

Following the incident, the college was closed indefinitely. The college staff held a demonstration, demanding exemplary punishment for the suspect.

The teacher was buried in the local graveyard and his funeral was attended by a large number of people.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2019