An autistic son who attacked his ‘rude’ and ‘cold’ step-mother with a hammer searched for a ‘hitman to shoot someone’ weeks before attempting to kill her, a court has heard.
Wasif Hussain, 21, and his wife Nabela Tabassum, 19, both deny attempted murder after Arifa Nazmin was struck in the head with a hammer, strangled and stabbed on January 29 last year.
Birmingham Crown Court was told the pair donned animal masks before carrying out the ambush, and intended to burn Ms Nazmin’s body afterwards, BirminghamLive reports.
Hussain is accused of making two searches about hiring a ‘hitman’ in the weeks prior, and referred to his step-mother as a ‘black dog n**** b****’ in a text message days before the assault at their family home in Kings Norton, prosecutors said.
In the conversation with his sister, he is also said to have called her a ‘black dog s*** auntie’, before telling his father that his step-mum ‘drives me mad, insane actually’ just a day before the attack.
Hussain is accused of carrying out the majority of the violence during the attack, while his young wife is said to have restrained her in-law, before handing her husband a knife and telling him: ‘Kill her’.
He yesterday told the court he had ‘let the darkness consume me’ and had a ‘blackout’ during the incident.
Hussain denies attempted murder and inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent. Tabassum denies attempted murder but has admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.
Wasif Hussain, 21, and his wife Nabela Tabassum, 19, both deny attempted murder over the horror attack of Arifa Nazmin, after she was allegedly struck in the head with a hammer, strangled and stabbed on January 29 last year (Pictured: Birmingham Crown Court)
The court heard on Wednesday that the couple married just a month after meeting online, and that Hussain felt ‘unwelcome and unwanted’ in the family home after his wife moved in with his father and step-mother on January 7.
He claimed he and Tabassum returned home on January 29, 2024 to find they had been locked out.
He told the jury that after his step-mother let them in the house, she acted in a ‘cold’ manner and slammed a door.
Hussain claimed his step-mother was ‘rude’ and ‘hostile’ but accepted that he had struck her with a hammer and put his arm around her neck later that evening.
He also admitted having a knife, but denied using it.
Hussain told the court: ‘I really blacked out that day. When it all happened really fast I was thinking in that moment I was really scared.
‘I didn’t know what was going on in my head at the time. I didn’t know who I was.’
He added: ‘I wanted to stand up for myself for all of the bullying and hurt my step-mum has caused me… I had no intent to kill or hurt my step-mother.’
The court previously heard how Hussain sent a text message after the attack to his sister from a train to Manchester, telling her he couldn’t come back to Birmingham.
‘I did something crazy,’ he added, accusing his step-mother and father of ‘ruining everything’.
It was alleged the row was triggered by Ms Nazmin complaining to Tabassum’s parents that their daughter used her home like a ‘hotel’.
