Roger Singaravelu was enjoying an afternoon nap with his five-year-old daughter when he became the victim of a terrorist attack in his suburban Melbourne home.

Key points: Bangladeshi exchange student Momena Shoma previously pleaded guilty to engaging in a terrorist act

Bangladeshi exchange student Momena Shoma previously pleaded guilty to engaging in a terrorist act At her plea hearing today, her victim said he lives in constant fear and can no longer work

At her plea hearing today, her victim said he lives in constant fear and can no longer work He said his daughter "pleads with us not to die and not to leave her alone"

"I don't believe I will ever recover," Mr Singaravelu told the Victorian Supreme Court in his victim impact statement.

"I can't escape what happened."

In February, 2018, Mr Singaravelu woke to find Momena Shoma stabbing him in the neck and shoulder with a kitchen knife.

The diminutive 25-year-old Bangladeshi student was a homestay guest at Mr Singaravelu's residence in Mill Park, in Melbourne's north.

She was yelling "Allahu akbar" and had both hands on the knife, pushing it down with such force it damaged his spine and the tip of the blade broke off, the court was told.

Shoma pleaded guilty to engaging in a terrorist act for the sole purpose of "advancing a political, religious or ideological cause, namely violent jihad", and faces a possible life sentence.

At her plea hearing on Tuesday, Mr Singaravelu said he now lives in constant fear and can no longer work.

Daughter suffers flashback and nightmares, court told

The attack was witnessed by his daughter, who now suffers from flashbacks and nightmares.

"My wife and I constantly worry about our daughter and believe the attack has stolen her innocence," he told the court.

"We are ashamed as parents that we didn't protect her."

Choking back sobs, Mr Singaravelu's wife told the court they'd raised their child to foster multiculturalism, but said she is now scared of people wearing Islamic religious dress.

"We trusted Australia was safe for our child," she told the court.

"Since this incident, our daughter pleads with us not to die and not to leave her alone."

'She had the intention to kill'

Prosecutor Sarah McNaughton SC told the judge that Shoma came to Australia with the sole purpose of carrying out a lone wolf attack and had bought her own knife from Bangladesh.

Six days before the attack, Shoma had searched the internet looking for night-vision googles so she could see in the dark, and later purchased them for $10, the court heard.

Shoma bought night-vision googles in the week leading up to the attack, the court heard. ( Supplied )

She said Shoma remained an ongoing and serious threat to the community and warned against a weak sentence, despite the fact she will not be allowed to stay in Australia once her sentence is served.

"She had the intention to kill a member of the Australian public, essentially picked at random," she said.

"Protection of the community must loom very largely in the sentencing.

"She is a young woman who came to this country to commit a terrorism attack as a loner operator.

"She even brought her own weapon across the border, she even practiced her act."

Ms McNaughton said Shoma, whose own mother died, was well aware of the pain caused by losing a parent but forged ahead with the attack while the victim's child slept beside him.

"It's a matter of luck that her victim survived," she said.

Shoma answered a fattwa issued by IS, court told

The court heard Shoma came to Australia under the guise of studying a masters, but she had been radicalised for years, was influenced by IS propaganda and believed she was answering a fattwa issued by Islamic State to join the caliphate.

She'd previously applied to study in Turkey in 2015, an access point to getting to Syria to fight with Islamic State, but her application for a visa was rejected.

On her arrest, the student told police she came to Australia with the sole intention of killing someone on behalf of Islamic State, saying she wanted to "trigger the west".

Initially hosted by another family in Bundoora, Shoma had practiced the attack by stabbing a mattress while alone in their house.

She was then moved to Mr Singaravelu's house as an emergency after the original host family expressed fear about what she'd done.

Roger Singaravelu said he now lives in constant fear and can no longer work. ( ABC News: Nicole Asher )

In the lead-up to the stabbing, Shoma watched beheading videos and other IS propaganda and had searched the internet to work out how to tell if someone was in a deep sleep, the court heard.

Three days before the stabbing, she'd sent a message to a friend on WhatsApp saying she needed "to gather more courage... to carry out his [Allah's] blessing".

Not part of a terrorist cell: defence

Defence lawyer Peter Morrisey SC admitted to the court that his client had shown no remorse and her religious views had not changed.

He told the judge that while the attack was pre-planned and Shoma had been radicalised for years, she was a woman motivated by her fear of hell.

He said she was not part of a terrorist cell or a criminal mastermind, and had not been successful in killing Mr Singaravelu.

Justice Lesley Taylor said Shoma's crime was not limited to what had happened to the host family.

"She succeeded in terrorising Australia," Justice Taylor stated.

She said the attack, while inside one home, was "likely to make people very scared indeed".

Shoma will be sentenced at a later date.