A Bangladeshi expatriate worker in Malaysia was sentenced to death on Monday for killing his Malaysian girlfriend.

The worker, Shamim Reza Abdul Samad, 33, was accused of killing Zuriyati Othman, 20, as she intended to break up her relationship with the accused.

Judge Datuk Zaharah Ibrahim handed down the verdict saying that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, reported New Straits Times -- a Malaysian daily.

"You (Shamim Reza) were in the room with a knife where the victim was found with 20 stab wounds. Yours as well as her blood was found on the knife [Shamim Reza also had multiple stab wounds]," the judge said.

"You also had a note on your desk calendar [marked as 'deadline'] on the day the victim was murdered on Nov 4," added the judge.

The judge also ruled out the claim of Shamim Reza's defence that someone else was involved in the murder. "If there was someone else, his or her trace of blood would have been detected," said thejudge.

Shamim Reza, an Economics graduate, was convicted of murdering his girlfriend of several years, Zuriyati, a first-year Industrial Chemistry diploma student, between 11:30am and midnight on August 9, 2002. The victim was found dead in her dormitory in Section 2 of Shah Alam City in Malaysia, said a report run by The New Straits Times on August 6.

During the trial, 27 prosecution witnesses were called to testify while Shamim Reza was the only defence witness.