Student terrorist Momena Shoma jailed for 42 years for Mill Park attack
An ISIS-inspired student had been in Melbourne for just a week when she unleashed a frightening terrorist attack on a dad who had opened his home to her, saying her victim was an “easy target”.
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A Bangladeshi student who stabbed her Melbourne homestay host in a terror act has been jailed for 42 years.
Momena Shoma admitted engaging in a terror act when she plunged a knife into Roger Singaravelu’s neck while he dozed beside his five-year-old daughter at Mill Park on February 9, 2018.
Shoma, then 24, had been in Australia on a student visa for just a week when she attacked Mr Singaravelu in the name of violent jihad, using a 25cm kitchen knife.
“I had to do it … it could have been anyone … he just seemed like a very easy target,” Ms Shoma told police.
“I had to push myself. I wouldn’t even hurt a rat … I just felt like if I don’t do it, I will be sinful, I will be punished by Allah.
She told police she had practised the attack by stabbing a pillow while staying with a different family but chose to attack Mr Singaravelu because he was vulnerable.
Shoma, who said she didn’t read or write Arabic, believed from conversations with people on online forums that Islamic State were calling women to fight on their behalf.
She said she acted on the direction of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, yelling “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.
“I just felt like I had ridded myself of blame. I didn’t care whether it was successful or not … in front of Allah I just can tell him that I tried.
“I just felt obligated, and it was like a burden on me. I just had to do it.”
Mr Singaravelu described the attack in terrifying detail in a police statement.
“I thought that I was dreaming as I felt a sharp pain on my neck. I woke up and started screaming,” he said.
“I saw (her) right next to me, she was on her knees, with both of her hands on a knife that was in my neck.
“(She) had such an intense look. Her eyes were so intense. She was saying “Allahu Akbar”, she kept on saying this over and over.”
Shoma described the attack as: “like my remembrance … Allah is the greatest,” she said.
Today Justice Lesley Ann Taylor sentenced Shoma to 42 years’ jail with a non-parole period of 31 years and six months, calling the crime “despicable” and “cowardly”.
“This Australian family, generous enough to open their home to a stranger, now suffers physically, emotionally and financially,” she said.
The young woman was enrolled in a masters of linguistics at La Trobe University but had been looking to attack someone since arriving in Australia.
Her victim has previously told the Supreme Court he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder since the attack, took a cocktail of medication and used alcohol to try and forget what happened to him.
“I relive the attack, the look on her face and the blood splattered on the wall,” Mr Singaravelu said in a statement.
The man’s daughter also suffered from PTSD, flashbacks and nightmares.
The diminutive Shoma, dressed in a black niqab showing only her eyes, did not stand for the judge.