MAY 13, 1999

JAMAICA ESTATES COMPUTER ENGINEER CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTING TO MURDER HIS GIRLFRIEND BY SETTING HER ON FIRE

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today the conviction of a 31 year old computer engineer on charges of attempting to murder a young woman with whom he had a long-term romantic relationship by throwing gasoline on her and igniting the gasoline with a match.

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Mohammed Mohsin, 31, of 169-11 Highland Avenue, Jamaica. He was convicted after a three week trial held before Supreme Court Justice Stanley Katz of the attempted murder and assault of Syeda Sufian, 21, which took place on September 13, 1995. He faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced by Justice Katz on June 7, 1999.

District Attorney Brown said, "In one sense this case, unfortunately, is a classic example of domestic violence but in another sense, it is exceptional in its viciousness. Anyone who has ever suffered a burn knows that burn injuries are among the most painful that can be imagined. I commend the victim in this case for her ability to bear both the physical and emotional pain inflicted by this defendant as well as her steadfastness in seeing this case through."

According to the testimony at trial, on the night September 12, 1995, the couple became embroiled in an argument over a promise the defendant had made to the victim that he would marry her. The next morning at about 6:45 a.m. as the victim stood at the kitchen sink in their basement apartment at 92-24 175th, the defendant came out of the bathroom carrying a can of gasoline. He then threw the gasoline on the victim, telling her "This is how I'm going to kill you" and lit a match. The victim's clothing immediately ignited causing burns to the right side of her body, her hands, neck and face.

The defendant fled to the outside of the house. The smoke and fire coupled with the victims screams roused several neighbors who phoned police and two good Samaritans ran into the burning apartment to rescue the victim. Meanwhile, seeing the commotion and fearing that his role in the crime would be discovered, the defendant called out to the landlord for help. As neighbors who had saved her attempted to treat her burns, the defendant told the victim in Bengali to keep silent about what had happened -- a silence she maintained for almost six months -- until he finally abandoned her.

Assistant District Attorney Davanand Singh of the District Attorney's Special Victims Bureau was the lead prosecutor in the case under the supervision of the Major Crimes Division's Coordinator of Trials Eugene Reibstein and with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Soraya Campbell.

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