An internet love affair and a desire for freedom from a strict upbringing were the motives behind a teenager's knife attack on her parents four years ago, a Supreme Court jury heard today.
Bangladesh-born Kaihana Tahseen Hussain, 20, faced the first day of her Brisbane trial this morning, accused of the murder of her mother, Shaheda Yasmeen Hussain, and the attempted murder of her father, Dr Muhammad Nurual Hussain, in the family's Gold Coast apartment on October 9, 2006.
It is alleged Hussain, then 17, blindfolded her father, telling him she had a surprise for him, before she stabbed him in the upper abdomen with a knife.
Moments before, she had also stabbed her mother in the stomach. Mrs Hussain, 41, died from blood loss at the scene.
Crown prosecutor Michael Byrne SC told the jury the accused was angered by a perception that her parents "restricted her lifestyle" by insisting she complete school and go on to university, rather than move to Sydney to be close to her 20-year-old lover, Ben Brady, with whom she talked via MSN Messenger.
Hussain also wanted to convert from her family's Islamic faith to Christianity, an intention which had enraged her father.
Mr Byrne said months before the murder, Hussain ran away from home and flew to Sydney to be with Mr Brady.
However, after the intervention of a family counsellor she returned to the family's Adelaide home and then travelled to Bangladesh with her mother.
Upon her return, the family began living on the Gold Coast.
The day after the knife attack, Hussain was to attend an interview at private girls school St Hilda's, where her parents wanted her to attend.
Mr Byrne said Dr Hussain would give evidence after his daughter attacked him, he heard his wife tell him in their native language Bengali that their daughter had stabbed her.
Dr Hussain will also tell the court he remembered his daughter saying words to the effect of "Die both of you now" as he stood near his injured wife.
Mr Hussain survived following several operations to repair damage to his liver and will give evidence at the trial, as will Mr Brady.
Mr Byrne said Hussain claimed her father had been the attacker and, after stabbing her mother and trying to stab her, he turned the knife on himself.
But he said the Crown would prove no one else other than the accused was behind the attacks.
Chat room logs of conversations between Hussain, Mr Brady and another friend, in which Hussain made it clear she planned to leave the Gold Coast and move to Sydney, would be admitted as evidence.
However Hussain's references in the chat room conversations that she would kill her parents, in particular her mother, were not considered an intention of murder and were mere "throwaway lines", Mr Byrne said.
During the trial, the jury would also hear evidence from several other residents of the Smith Street apartment complex where the Hussains lived.
Hussain has pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder.
The trial, to include 112 witnesses over the next three weeks, continues this afternoon.
