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© Jason South Momena Shoma leaves court after pleading guilty on terror charges.
At five foot two and 40 kilograms, Momena Shoma almost looked like a child in the dock of the Melbourne's Supreme Court.
But in February last year, the Bangladeshi student executed a near-deadly attack on Roger Singaravelu as he napped in his home with his five-year-old daughter beside him.
© Supplied Momena Shoma's passport photo.
Shoma, 25, yelled “Allahu Akbar” in the name of Islamic State and plunged a 25-centimetre knife into Mr Singaravelu’s neck and shoulder with such force the blade broke in him.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Sarah McNaughton, SC, said it was a heinous crime in which Mr Singaravelu was essentially picked at random.
“She came to this county to commit this terror attack,” Mr McNaughton said.
“She planned it, she motivated herself, she even brought her own weapon through the border.
© Joe Armao Roger Singaravelu outside court, following an earlier appearance by the woman charged with stabbing him, Momena Shoma.
“It was her intent to kill.”
Shoma had arrived Australia days earlier under the pretence of studying after being awarded a scholarship to La Trobe University.
The Australian Homestay Network had organised a family to host her in Bundoora, and while they were out, Shoma stabbed their mattresses to practise for the real thing.
The family discovered the bizarre marks and called the network to remove her from their home.
Shoma was assigned to another family and turned up on the doorstep of Mr Singaravelu and his wife Maha in Mill Park.
Mr Singaravelu said the network told them Shoma left her first placement because of an emergency with her host family, but they didn’t disclose what happened.
The Singaravelus said they welcomed Shoma into their home "when she had nowhere else to go".
"We offered our hospitality and we opened our hearts to her," an emotional Mrs Singaravelu told the court during a pre-sentence hearing on Tuesday.
"We offered our hospitality and we opened our hearts to her," an emotional Mrs Singaravelu told the court during a pre-sentence hearing on Tuesday.
Shoma became a Sunni Muslim in Bangladesh in 2012, but was radicalised a year later. She had lead a sheltered life, the court heard, and found a sense of belonging in the extreme version of the religion.
She had tried to travel to Turkey in 2015 - there was a suggestion in court she wanted to travel to Syria to join the caliphate - but authorities there rejected her visa application.
© Chris Hopkins The Singaravelu's family home in Mill Park where the stabbing happened. Shoma turned her sights on Australia and packed a 25-centimetre knife.
Her lawyer Peter Morrissey said his client was driven by what she believed were her religious obligations.
Extremists were being encouraged to travel to Syria to join the caliphate, and if they couldn’t, they were directed to attack "disbelievers".
“I felt obligated. It was a burden on me. I just had to do it,” the court heard Shoma had said to police.
Mr Singaravelu fought Shoma off before scooping his daughter up in his arms and running to get help on the street outside.
He said both he and his daughter suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and his family are financially ruined because he’s unable to work.
“We are ashamed as parents that we could not do more to protect [our daughter],” he said.
Mrs Singaravelu said both she and her husband were hard-working taxpayers who had come to Australia, which they trusted was safe for their child.
“We trust justice will prevail and we hope that a decision is made that will clearly spell out Australia will not tolerate terrorism,” she said.
Mr Morrissey asked Justice Lesley Taylor to take into account that Shoma did not carry out the attack in a public place with the intention of causing mass casualties, and the fact that Mr Singaravelu did not die.
Although Shoma pleaded guilty to intentionally engaging in a terrorist act, with the motive of "advancing a political, religious or ideological cause, namely violent jihad", she has shown no remorse, nor has denounced her extremist beliefs, the court heard.
The court heard Shoma felt her family had wiped her. Her sister has also been accused of committing a terrorist act - the 22-year-old stabbed a senior policeman when he went to the family home to question them about Shoma.
Justice Taylor will sentence Shoma at a later date.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/aust...tay-student-terror/ar-BBSSJ1v?ocid=spartanntp
Another disgusting Muslim terrorist.
