The man barged into the classroom of Kerala's SME College and set the woman on fire, said eyewitnesses.
A 20-year-old student was doused with petrol and set on fire in full view of other students at a medical college in Kerala's Kottayam on Wednesday. Her assailant had set himself on fire as well. Both had suffered serious burn injuries and died in hospital. Two of the students who had tried to save the woman, Laxmi, have sustained burns and have been admitted in hospital.
The horrific incident had taken place in from of a handful of students, who had come to the SME College despite a strike.
Eyewitnesses said the man, Adarsh, in his mid-twenties, was a former student of the college. On Wednesday afternoon, he had walked into the classroom and poured petrol on the woman and himself. As the woman ran out, he chased and caught her, and then used a lighter to set her clothes ablaze. Then her set fire to his own clothes as well.
The School of Medical Education is a part of Kottayam's Mahatma Gandhi University.