A 22-year-old college student in Kerala’s Kottayam district died after her batchmate allegedly slit her throat on Friday, The Indian Express reported, citing the police.

The accused, 21-year-old Abhishek Baiju, allegedly attacked Nithinamol inside the campus of the St Thomas College of Pala town in Kottayam.

Baiju attacked his batchmate with a blade and then slit her throat, said Abhilash, sub-inspector at the Pala police station. Nithinamol died on her way to a hospital.

A security guard who saw the attack said that Baiju and Nithinamol had an argument at a driveway in the campus.

“And then in a quick flash, I saw him forcing her down on the ground, holding her throat,” the security guard said. “The attacker then wiped his hands off the blood and calmly sat a few metres away. He did not try to run away. He sat there till the police came.”

The police have taken Baiju into custody and registered a case against him.

Both the accused man and the victim were students of a food processing technology course and had been attending college to appear for their final semester examinations, The New Indian Express reported.

Sub-inspector Abhilash said that the motive for the attack was not yet clear.

“We have taken him [Baiju] into custody, but he’s not in a good mental state right now,” he said, according to The Indian Express. “We will have to question him to find out why he did it.”