Student stabs lecturer to death in Paris for ‘insulting the Prophet Mohammed’

A Pakistani man claimed he stabbed his former professor for insulting his religion. French police say they found no connection to Islamic terror. 

By Jack Gold, World Israel News

A Pakistani man stabbed his former university lecturer to death in Paris after the victim allegedly “insulted the Prophet Mohammed,” the Daily Mail reported Friday.

John Dowling of Ireland, 66, was stabbed 13 times last Wednesday outside the Leonardo de Vinci University in Paris, where he taught.

The assailant, identified only as Ali R., 37, confessed to the killing and told police he “held a personal grudge” against the teacher after failing his exams last year. Ali was indicted for murder.

CCTV footage shows Dowling chatting with Ali before the assailant pulled out a steak knife, purchased at a nearby market, and plunged it first into Dowling’s throat and then into his chest.

An eyewitness recounted how students overwhelmed Ali, while one of them tore off his shirt to try to staunch the bleeding, the Irish Times reported.

Catherine Denis, the prosecutor involved in the case, said Ali harbored an “obsessive resentment” against the university for expeling him in September 2017, the Mail reported.

Ali arrived in France two years ago to join the management school but failed his first year, Denis said. He had since returned to the college several times until he “became unwanted to the point that he was not allowed in anymore,” she added.

‘Very religious, very pious, very practising’

Ali claimed during police questioning that Dowling had made fun of his Muslim religion during classes.

“He produced a drawing, which he showed off in class, insulting the Prophet Mohammed,” Ali claimed, according to Denis.

However, Denis said that no one recalls such an incident. “We don’t have proof of radicalization, but rather a feeling that we’re dealing with someone who is very religious, very pious, very practising,” she said.

Ali was not known to the intelligence services and had not surfaced on their Islamic terrorism radar, but was an “obsessive patriot” from Pakistan. the prosecutor said. Detectives have so far ruled out any links between the attacker and jihadi groups.

Dowling taught English and international relations at the university for two decades and was due to retire.

A spokesperson for the university stated that Dowling was “a friendly man, respected and loved by all students and colleagues” and “known for his great availability and kindness,” RTE reported.