A female student was beheaded in class by her ex-boyfriend after she spurned his attentions. 18-year-old Khusbu, a student of St. Xavier’s College in Ranchi, India, was murdered by 23-year-old Bijendra Kumar, a 23-year-old engineering student.

Kumar used a small dagger to sever her head while horrified onlookers called for the campus guards. After a brief struggle, he was apprehended by students and security guards.

Police superintendent Sambhu Thakur told the press that interviews with the victim’s friends and family revealed that the two had met in Jamshedpur and had an affair, which had apparently turned sour.

His family did not know why he murdered the girl, with whom he had agreed to marry. Police are still investigating the crime.

“There cannot be anything more brutal than this,” said Nicholas Tete, principal of St. Xavier’s College.