Pakistani Student, Ali, 37, Killed his Professor in Paris, Says 'Insulted Prophet Mohammed'

A disgruntled former Pakistani student killed his former professor in front of students at a university located in the suburbs of Paris this week.

The 37-year-old Pakistani had been expelled from the school last year and is in police custody for the murder.



The 66-year-old academic, named locally as John Dowling, was attacked and stabbed 13 times outside the Paris university where he worked on Wednesday.

Ali R., a 37-year-old Pakistani national, has confessed to the killing and told police he held a personal grudge against the teacher after failing his exams last year.



Dowling had taught English and international relations at the university for two decades, and had made numerous friends there, including plenty of overseas students. He was due to retire at the end of this academic year.



Catherine Denis, the Nanterre prosecutor involved in the case, said Ali harboured an ‘obsessive resentment’ against the university for kicking him out in September 2017.



‘He came to France two years ago to join the management school, but did not pass his first year,’ she said.

‘Since then he had been returning to the college, and had become unwanted to the point that he was not allowed in any more.’

The 37-year-old killer told police he had a personal vendetta against the teacher after failing his exams last year, for which he was expelled from the school last year.

Ali – whose surname has not been disclosed by the French authorities – also claimed that the lecturer had allegedly ‘insulted the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’.

“He produced a drawing, which he showed off in class, insulting the Prophet Mohammed,” Ali told the French police. Despite this claim, investigators say ‘nobody remembers such an incident.

The Pakistani national is due to be indicted for murder in Paris.