A newlywed couple attempted to murder the husband’s stepmother in a frenzied attack while wearing animal masks. Wasif Hussain, 21 and his wife Nabela Tabassum, 19, wore giraffe masks when they ambushed and attacked Arifa Nazmin at their family home in Kings Norton in January last year.
In the horror attack, which was caught on a camera installed in the home, Hussain hit her head with a hammer. He also strangled, punched and stabbed her while Tabassum restrained her. During the assault she managed to convince the couple to let her go upstairs, where she was able to lock herself in a room and call West Midlands Police for help.
She suffered a stab wound to her arms as well as defensive knife injuries but survived the attack. Immediately afterwards the pair fled Birmingham but officers tracked them down and arrested them in Bolton at a Travelodge in the early hours the following day. The couple carried out the attack less than two months after they got married.
They had met online in 2023 and their families arranged for them to marry after discovering their relationship. In her interview, which was read to the court, Tabassum recalled how in the weeks before the attack her in-laws – Wasif’s father Mohammed Hussain and his wife Arifa Nazmin – kept complaining about them.
BirminghamLive reported she told police during an interview: “I couldn’t do anything. But at the end I let her go because I’m not like that kind of criminal. Because I never attempted murder ever in my life, this was my first time.”
The pair had denied attempted murder but were found guilty following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court which concluded last Thursday.
The couple are believed to have tried to kill her because they were angry after being accused of not doing any chores and treating the family home like a hotel.
The two snapped and carried out the attack when they were asked to leave the home.
Detective Inspector Laura Allen, from Public Protection, said: “This was a calculated and frenzied attack on a defenceless woman using weapons including a knife and hammer. She was very lucky to have managed to get away, lock herself in a room and ring us.
“The evidence we provided at court helped to convict these two of attempted murder. They are set to spend many years behind bars when they next appear in court for sentence.”
The couple will be sentenced on 21 May.
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