EXCLUSIVE
A wannabe TikTok star has narrowly avoided being sent back to prison after bashing his girlfriend in a hotel room and telling her: ‘I’m going to jail’.
Rabih Houchar initially denied viciously assaulting Tara Eslami while she was in Sydney to celebrate the birthday of fellow influencer Alia Elhassan.
The 27-year-old already had a history of violent offending including serving a jail term for robbery in company before attacking Ms Eslami seven months ago.
He eventually admitted to ripping open Ms Eslami’s shirt after they had sex, dragging her across the floor by the hair and repeatedly punching her in the face.
Ms Eslami, who is also known as Tara Eve and has more than 22,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, had flown from Melbourne for Ms Elhassan’s birthday bash on June 15 last year.
The boat party attracted a crowd of popular TikTokers including Ms Elhassan’s sister Jenny Elhassan and Evelyn Ellis, who boasts almost 238,000 followers.
Videos posted online showed revellers cruising around the city in luxury cars, dancing on a yacht while sipping champagne, then heading to a room at the Crown hotel.
About 1pm the next day, Ms Eslami had lunch with Houchar, with whom she had been in an on-again, off-again relationship for eight months.
Wannabe TikTok star Rabih Houchar (above) has narrowly avoided being sent back to prison for bashing his influencer girlfriend Tara Eslami after they had sex in a Sydney hotel room
According to a statement of facts tendered in Downing Centre Local Court, the couple argued during the meal but Ms Eslami described the disagreement as ‘nothing major’.
After lunch the pair returned to room 1006 at the Vibe Hotel in Sussex Street where Ms Eslami began reading text messages from a female friend Houchar didn’t like.
At a bail hearing in August, it was alleged Houchar told Ms Eslami, ‘I don’t like the girls you are hanging out with’ then seized her phone and cracked the screen.
The Supreme Court heard Ms Eslami took her phone back and said, ‘I’m going to call the police. I should have done this earlier.’
Houchar responded by kissing Ms Eslami and telling her: ‘I’m sorry, let me fix this, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, let’s go and buy you a new phone now.’
He repeatedly apologised , saying ‘I’m sorry, let me fix this’, according to the statement of facts.
‘The victim realised the accused had calmed down and became empathetic and both engaged in sexual intercourse,’ the statement said.
‘After the sexual intercourse the accused said, “We can part after this, you don’t need to go to the cops”.’
Ms Eslami (above), who is also known as Tara Eve, travelled from Melbourne to Sydney to celebrate the birthday of fellow influencer Alia Elhassan on June 15 last year
Houchar, who has a child in Perth, then showed Ms Eslami pictures of other women on Snapchat, insinuating that he could be with another woman.
A further argument ensued and Ms Eslami walked towards the door but Houchar stopped her from leaving by grabbing her arm.
‘I’m not scared of you,’ Ms Eslami told Houchar.
‘You’re not gonna scare me this time – just leave. I’m going to to go to the police and show them my phone. I have voice recordings from before.’
As Ms Eslami packed her bag and headed once more for the door, Houchar pulled her back by the shirt, causing it to rip open.
He dragged Ms Eslami by the hair across the floor to the bed then began punching her in the face.
‘The victim can’t recall how many punches as it happened so fast,’ the statement of facts said.
Ms Eslami felt dizzy and suffered a cut lip and a bump to her forehead.
The day after Ms Eslami attended Alia Elhassan’s birthday party in Sydney she went to lunch with Rabih Houchar (above). During the meal the pair had a minor argument
After Ms Eslami and Houchar had lunch they returned to room 1006 at the Vibe Hotel in Sussex Street where he assaulted her. A room at the hotel is pictured
When Houchar had finished assaulting Ms Eslami he walked away and started punching himself in the head.
A concerned Ms Eslami took Houchar by the arms and told him to calm down. He responded by saying, ‘Why are you doing this to me? We can fix this – I love you so much.’
Ms Eslami led Houchar to the bed and got something cold from the fridge to apply to his head.
While Houchar tended to his own injuries Ms Eslami again tried to flee but he grabbed her arm and led her back to the bed.
As Houchar continued to apologise, Ms Eslami told him, ‘F*** off, please leave me alone, I’m done, I don’t ever want to see you again.’
Houchar then got on top of Ms Eslami and punched her in the head. Ms Eslami begged Houchar to stop but he used his legs to hold her still.
‘Stop? I’m going to jail,’ he said, before Ms Eslami managed to escape.
Police arrived at the hotel about 7.40pm and spoke separately to Ms Eslami and Houchar, who claimed the couple had only had a verbal dispute.
When Ms Eslami (above) tried to flee the hotel Houchar pulled her back by the shirt, causing it to rip open. He dragged Ms Eslami by the hair then began punching her in the face
Houchar, from Guildford in Sydney’s west, was refused bail when he pleaded not guilty the next day to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, destroying or damaging property and stalk or intimidate.
He was granted bail on August 19 and pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Downing Centre Local Court on November 29 when the other charges with withdrawn. An additional charge of common assault was also dismissed.
At the same time magistrate Janet Wahlquist imposed a two-year apprehended domestic violence order to protect Ms Eslami from Houchar.
On Thursday in the same court, magistrate James Gibson sentenced Houchar to a term of imprisonment of eight months to be served by way of an intensive correction order.
Under that order Haucher must complete 100 hours of community service and undertake treatment programs to reduce his risk of reoffending as well as drug and alcohol counselling.
Houchar, whose TikTok account ‘dior_onma_body’ has been stripped of all content but retains 16,800 followers, has no source of income other than the $1,000 to $1,500 a week he previously claimed to earn from his social media accounts.
Houchar was jailed for a minimum two years and three months in July 2017 for robbery in company and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
He was sentenced to an 18-month community correction order in September 2022 after being convicted of intentionally distributing an intimate image without consent.
In an unrelated matter, Jenny Elhassan made headlines in April 2022 when she was the victim of an acid attack by three masked men who threw a corrosive substance on her face outside a Chinatown restaurant.
Alia Elhassan was previously married to convicted drug smuggler Steven Elmir, once regarded as among Sydney’s most feared underworld figures.
