Man Stabs Girlfriend 32 Times, Kills Her For Declining Marriage Proposal

A man who fatally stabbed his girlfriend he met via an arranged marriage website was sentenced to life in prison by an Australian court Friday.

Senthill Kumar Arumugam was found guilty of stabbing Meena Narayanan 32 times before slitting her throat at a Brisbane hotel in March 2014. Narayanan, a 27-year-old Singaporean woman, was living in Australia as a student while Arumugam worked as an engineer in South Africa. The pair met via an arranged marriage website in 2013.

Narayanan, however, refused to marry him. He traveled to Australia after he felt she was cheating on her.

"They met in person in December 2013 and their families met in February 2014 in India. But the deceased expressed some reservations about the relationship and the evidence supports that she commenced another relationship with another man in Australia,” Prosecutor David Nardone said, ABC News reported.

"Arumugam was aware that the deceased was, as far as he was concerned, cheating on him and asked an associate where he could buy an unregistered firearm," Nardone said adding, he told his associate “If could not have the deceased then nobody else will."

Arumugam, however, couldn’t bring a gun into Australia and thus before meeting Narayan at his hotel room, he obtained a knife. He then stabbed her and she sustained bruises and cuts on her back, arms, hands and legs as she tried to defend herself. He also slit her throat.

Neighbors heard "banging and screaming" coming from the room, the prosecutor said.

Arumugam then stabbed himself multiple times before calling the reception, informing that his girlfriend was dead and that he was bleeding. Police reached the room and saw the pair covered with blood. Arumugam later told officials they had attempted a suicide pact after "she had asked him to help her die."

Describing the incident a "horrendous act of violence,” Justice David Boddice said, "When police arrived at the scene they found you lying next to the deceased. You admitted to stabbing her but falsely claimed to police that she had asked you to help her die."

"Her throat had been slit and she had multiple wounds to other parts of her body. The wounds evidenced frantic attempts by the deceased to protect herself from what was a frenzied attack,” he added.

News Castle Star reported Narayan succumbed from wounds to her chest and abdomen.

The case was delayed for years as Arumugam was seeking mental health treatment. Psychiatrists accepted Arumugam had “genuine psychotic symptoms.”

"You have also exaggerated symptoms in an unsuccessful attempt to rely on a mental health defence,” Justice Boddice said.