Egypt's Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar decided on Tuesday to reduce the punishment of a male student who appeared in a viral video hugging a female friend on campus.

The student’s punishment has been reduced from a two-year suspension to one term.

Last week, a video went viral on social media showing a male student at Mansoura University surprising a female student, who studies at Al-Azhar University, with a bouquet of flowers and kneeling in front of her in what appears to be a marriage proposal.

He then embraced the young woman and lifted her off the ground.

The male student was originally suspended for two years following investigations by a disciplinary committee.

The minister said that the decision to reduce the punishment comes in light of "the student's young age and his future."

Abdel-Ghaffar called on universities to educate students on all bylaws as well as holding awareness sessions to avoid such incidents in the future.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s Al-Azhar University overturned a decision to permanently expel the female student, hours after the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayyeb urged the university to reconsider its decision.

The university’s disciplinary committee said in its emergency meeting that it has decided the scrap the punishment, instead opting to bar the student from sitting in for her exams this term in “keenness over her educational future.”

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