Crossbow killer given 33 years for shooting his pregnant ex-wife
A CROSSBOW killer could die in prison after being jailed for at least 33 years for shooting his heavily pregnant ex-wife in a “brutal and evil” revenge attack.
Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo (51) burst into the east London home of eight months’ pregnant Sana Muhammad and fired an arrow into her stomach as she fled upstairs.
Mrs Muhammad (35), formerly known as Devi Unmathallegadoo, suffered catastrophic internal injuries and died.
Her unborn son — her sixth child — was delivered by Caesarean section and survived.
A jury rejected the defendant’s claim it was an accident and found him guilty of murder after four hours of deliberations last week.
Judge Mark Lucraft QC sentenced him to life with a minimum term of 33 years yesterday.
He described the killing of Mrs Muhammad as a “brutal and evil attack”, saying if it was not for the presence of her children, he would have shot her new husband, Imtiaz, too.
He told the defendant: “You carefully planned this attack. You had two loaded crossbows and I’m entirely satisfied you intended an attack on Sana and then on Imtiaz.
“One can only assume that you were jealous of their life together and the fact that they had formed a loving bond between themselves and with your children.”
The judge said the crossbows and bolts the defendant acquired did not require a licence and could be bought online.
Earlier, Mrs Muhammad’s widower paid tribute to his outgoing and bubbly “soulmate”.
Imtiaz Muhammad said: “She was very friendly, talkative and always made me laugh. She was my soulmate, my best friend, my wife, my companion and my everything and I love her dearly. Ram must have been very jealous of the life Sana and I had.”
He said his wife had been “scared” of the defendant, adding: “She would always say, ‘Ram does not forgive and forget. He likes to create trouble no matter if he loses everything’.”
The court heard how the victim was 16 when she entered into an arranged marriage with the defendant, then 30, in Mauritius.
Their relationship ended in 2012 after an incident in which she jumped out of an upstairs window and broke her ankle.
After a trial in 2013, he was cleared of attacking her and acquitted on the judge’s direction of a charge of attempted strangulation under the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861.
She successfully filed for an emergency non-molestation order, which barred the defendant from coming within 100 metres of the family home in Ilford.
Following her divorce, she married builder Imtiaz Muhammad and changed her name to Sana Muhammad. Meanwhile, the defendant lost his job as a site manager at Newham General Hospital and slept rough as he plotted revenge.
On the morning of November 12, 2018, he took up position in the garden shed armed with two crossbows, bolts, a knife, duct tape, cable ties and a hammer.
He was disturbed by Mr Muhammad, who had gone into the garden to store an empty box. The defendant ran inside the house and shot his ex-wife with an 18-inch arrow as she fled.