Heavily shackled Momena Soma arrives at court on Wednesday morning. Credit:Eddie Jim

Roger Singaravelu opened his heart and home to a young woman who had left her native Bangladesh to study in Melbourne.

Less than 48 hours later, while napping with his five-year-old daughter, the woman plunged a knife into his neck with such force it snapped in half and embedded in his spine.

Momena Shoma, 26, was jailed on Wednesday for 42 years, with a minimum of 31½ years, after admitting to engaging in a terror act on February 9, 2018.

Dressed in a black niqab showing only her eyes, Shoma did not stand for Justice Lesley Ann Taylor when she was sentenced.