PATNA, India – A school principal fatally stabbed a Hindu nationalist lawmaker while he was meeting with some of his supporters Tuesday at his residence in an eastern Indian state, police said.

Rupan Pathak pulled out a knife hidden in her shawl and stabbed Raj Kishore Kesri, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker, in his stomach, killing him instantly, said Neelmani, the top police officer in Bihar state.

Kesri's guards overpowered Pathak, who is in her early 40s, and beat her up, said Neelmani, who uses one name. She was taken from Kesri's home in Purnea town and hospitalized in critical condition, and has been charged with murder, he said.

Purnea is 185 miles (300 kilometers) northeast of Patna, the state capital.

Kesri, who was 51, had inaugurated Pathak's private school four years ago, Neelmani said. In newspaper interviews last year, Pathak accused Kesri of sexually harassing her over a three-year period, but Neelmani said she did not file a police complaint.

Bihar is considered India's most lawless state, with armed criminal gangs roaming freely, kidnapping children, shooting police officers and extorting protection money from businesses.

The situation started improving after a coalition government of a socialist party and the BJP assumed power five years ago.