In a heart-wrenching tragedy that has stunned the academic community in Punjab, 22-year-old law student Rohanpreet Singh fatally shot his 21-year-old classmate, Priya Kaur, during a heated altercation on the campus of Lovely Professional University in Phagwara before turning the firearm on himself. The incident, captured on chilling video footage now circulating widely on social media, unfolded Tuesday afternoon in a crowded corridor near the law faculty building, leaving students and faculty in a state of panic as gunshots echoed through the halls.
According to eyewitnesses, Singh and Kaur, both in their final year of a BA LLB program, had a brief romantic involvement that soured months earlier when Kaur rejected his advances. Tensions reportedly escalated that day after Singh confronted her publicly about rumors of her dating another student. Video evidence shows Singh pulling out a .32-caliber pistol—believed to be illegally procured—and firing three shots at Kaur at point-blank range before placing the barrel under his chin and pulling the trigger. Kaur was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital, while Singh succumbed to his injuries en route to medical care.
Punjab Police swiftly cordoned off the campus, launching an investigation led by Jalandhar's Senior Superintendent of Police, Harpreet Singh Brar. Authorities recovered a suicide note from Singh's hostel room confessing his obsession with Kaur and expressing despair over her rejection. Forensic teams are analyzing the pistol's origins, amid suspicions it was sourced from Punjab's porous arms smuggling networks along the India-Pakistan border. No prior criminal record exists for either student, though university officials noted Singh had been flagged for erratic behavior during recent counseling sessions.
The double tragedy has ignited debates on campus safety and mental health support in India's higher education institutions. Lovely Professional University, one of Punjab's largest private universities with over 30,000 students, suspended classes for 48 hours and announced mandatory counseling programs. Kaur's family, hailing from a modest background in nearby Hoshiarpur, described her as a bright, ambitious scholar aiming for judicial services, while Singh's parents, both schoolteachers from Ludhiana, are grappling with inconsolable grief.
Experts point to a disturbing pattern of violence linked to unrequited love among young adults in India, exacerbated by social media pressures and limited emotional resources on campuses. With firearm possession tightly regulated under the Arms Act, this case underscores the challenges of illegal gun proliferation in northern states. As the community mourns, calls grow for stricter vigilance, peer support networks, and awareness campaigns to prevent such devastating outcomes.
