A 26-year-old stalker murdered a college student in full public view in Chennai's KK Nagar, dramatically asking her to set his petrol-soaked body afire before viciously slashing her throat with a knife. The assailant was caught by passersby and soundly thrashed before being handed over to the police who arrested him. A court later sent him to the Puzhal Central Prison. Maduravoyal resident Ashwini Mohan was walking from Meenakshi College, where she was a first-year B Com student, when the incident occurred around 3pm, the police said, based on witness accounts. The 20-year-old was with a few of her friends on Loganathan Street, around 200 metres from the institution, when the stalker, Alagesan Ganesan of Alapakkam, barred her way. Handing her a cigarette lighter, he demanded that she set him ablaze. While her friends screamed for help, Ashwini flung aside the lighter and tried to walk away, but Alagesan, who worked with a packaged water supply agency, held her firmly, her friends told the police. He pulled out a knife, pressed it in her hand and tried to kill himself with it. As she pushed his hand away, he slashed her neck and she fell to the ground, blood pouring out of the grievous wound.