On January 29, 2024, late at night, Wassf Hussein and his newlywed wife, Nabila Tbasam, waited in the shadows. They were masked and armed. They waited for Wasif’s stepmother, Arifa, to come downstairs.
Arifa enters the kitchen, turns on the light, and notices the couple standing there, but decides not to think too much about it. The couple did odd things sometimes, and it seemed nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps they were just making a video for TikTok and YouTube. As Arifa approached the counter to begin preparing some food for her husband, Muhammad, the couple snuck behind her, striking her.
So, the question remains, how did we get here? What did the stepmother do to warrant a stealth attack? Well, let’s get into the backstory.
You see, Wasif’s mother and father sadly divorced when he was around 7 years old. In the boy’s mind, his father, Muhammad, left his mother for Arifa, and he had a hard time adjusting to his new stepmother. But tragically, shortly after Muhammad and Arifa became official, Wasif’s biological mother deleted herself, leaving behind three children, including Wasif.
Wasif, the anguished son, started to blame his father. He was overcome by such a grief. Keep in mind, Wasif is autistic and suffers from ADHD. These two neurodivergences made the grief heavier, causing a great deal of emotional issues for the boy.
And one of the reasons why I decided to tell this story is because the couple, the suspects, they’re Pakistani. I’m also Pakistani. Mental illness plays a huge part in this case. And in the Pakistani culture, in the Pakistani communities, there’s actually no avenue for you to overcome or get help with your mental illnesses. So, I’m going to try and provide you some cultural references to help you understand why this crime took place.
So, as the years went on, Wasif was very angry with his father. Their relationship was strained. He found himself starting to get along with Arifa as he got older. They had a sort of love-hate relationship, but he was sure his stepmother loved and cared for him. Unfortunately, there’s no images of Muhammad or Arifa. I couldn’t find any. If you can link them in the comments, because if you think about it, it wasn’t Arifa’s fault that his mother deleted herself. Arifa is the one that comforted Wasif where his father couldn’t.
Wasif had two siblings who also emotionally and socially supported him through his teenage years. But they moved out in December 2023. This was a strenuous change for him. For someone who’s autistic, change is quite difficult, especially when they have an emotional attachment to particular people. Wasif’s siblings leaving was painful, and he continued to feel abandoned by the people he loved and needed every direction he turned.
Now December was a busy month for Wasif. This is when he met and married Nabila. He met her online. He only knew her for a few months. Nabila herself also experienced neurological differences and had similar special needs too. The families of the couple arranged for them to get married and to move in together.
So the question you might ask is why did they get these two married quite quick? Well, let me tell you the thinking. A lot of his family would have looked at Wasif and one of the things they would have been worried about as he grows up, who is he going to get married to? Will he ever have children? Who’s going to accept my boy, you know, because of his mental issues. This is something his biological mother would have thought about over and over again because in the Pakistani culture, marriage is 50% of your life complete. So if you take the same ideal and apply it onto Nabila who also had some mental issues, the two families were like:
“Wow, we found two compatible people who can grow together despite their conditions.”
I’m trying to say this as respectfully as I can. You know what I mean? But you understand the thinking, right?
So the families arranged for them to get married and then they moved in together. Nabila moved into Wasif’s family on January the 7th, shortly after the wedding. But this changed the family dynamic causing tensions to rise between the newlyweds and the parents.
Arifa was not pleased with Wasif and Nabila’s efforts around the house. She complained that they treated it like a hotel with no contribution to the cleanliness of the home. Apparently Nabila did not wash up properly and she smelled. Muhammad the father naturally took his wife’s side in this dispute and the younger couple began to hide away feeling dejected. They avoided the parents, eating separately, and spent long periods of time outside of the house. They felt unwelcome in their home immediately after Nabila moved in, causing a serious degree of discomfort for Wasif’s wife. Both pairs harbored resentment towards the other.
Muhammad, worried about his son’s anger issues, then installed CCTV cameras all around the house to ensure the safety of everyone so he could keep an eye on Wasif and Nabila.
On January the 9th, only two days after his wife moved in, Wasif searched online for a hitman. Bro, two weeks and they had already had enough. Literally in his Google search, he typed “hitman to shoot someone”. This careless action is a clear indication of Wasif’s mental intellect.
The rising tensions were too much for both sides. In fact, when he told Nabila that he plans to get revenge on Arifa for the way she treated him, Nabila was quite nervous. She’s like:
“Me, take someone’s life?”
Wasif’s final plan was reluctantly agreed upon by Nabila on January 27th. This plan was to attack Arifa and then Muhammad. Wasif had also been in communication with a friend who lived in Bolton. They talked about how Wasif was traveling from Birmingham to visit them. He didn’t tell the Bolton friend why. Wasif described his troubles with his father and how things were becoming increasingly tense. The unsettled young man harbored a great deal of resentment.
Nabila herself most likely did not comprehend Wasif’s extensive trauma. She and Arifa had very little communication throughout the short time she lived in the house. It was Wasif who was arguing so much with his stepmother, and his anger led to the desire to kill her. In Wasif’s mind, he had to defend his wife Nabila. Nabila felt that Arifa would deliberately exclude her, calling her distant and unhelpful.
The 18-year-old Nabila had also experienced a traumatized childhood like Wasif, and early on in the living situation, Muhammad and Arifa became tired of Nabila’s behavior and laziness. So, they went to her parents to complain about her manners. And this is important again in the Pakistani culture or I guess in the Muslim culture. If your in-laws go direct to your parents, you are screwed. Because what would happen is if your father-in-law or whatever is not happy with you, he would come to you and say, “Hey son, we have these issues. Let’s talk it out.” Then they would come again. Then they would come again. But then when they go to your parents’ house, your parents are going to be like, “What? Why are they coming to us? How bad is my son that the in-laws are coming to us to try and fix our son or daughter or whatever?” You understand the point, right? And this part is all to do with honor and well, we’re not a bad family. We didn’t raise bad kids. You don’t need to come to us. Our kids are okay.
So, Muhammad and Arifa went to Nabila’s parents to complain about her manners. Nabila’s mother then informed Nabila of this confrontation during a phone call. While on the phone, Nabila told her mother she felt like dying, which made the mother concerned. Her mother thought Nabila was going to delete herself, so she called Muhammad, which prompted him to ask for advice from the police on how to kick his son and Nabila out. This created even more animosity between the two couples.
See, Wasif came from a sheltered and controlled environment under the control of his father. His life under his father appeared to be one which from his perspective can be described as sheer hell. He felt bullied, dominated, exploited and undermined. And again, as I said, in the Pakistani culture, there’s no process to help someone who has mental illness. It’s one of those where, listen, we don’t know if this is real. Deal with it. And it’s shameful if you ask me, but it’s playing a huge role in this story because Wasif hated it when his father would call him handicapped and felt as though Muhammad hated him. Maybe his father blamed him for his mother’s death, though he wasn’t sure how. And that’s a fair point. The biological mother deleting herself. Muhammad who saw his child as weak probably took it out on him. At the same time, Wasif losing his mother needed comfort from his father. You understand the dynamic and how it can go so wrong.
So Wasif’s resentment was there towards his father and he had a plan. He wanted to take the life of Arifa and Muhammad. And his plan was quite simple: attack Arifa from behind, catching her off guard, and kill her. And when Muhammad returned home, they would kill him to burn both their bodies in the garden and bury them there.
So January the 29th, Wasif and Nabila went to Poundland, a commercial retail store. They bought two animal masks. They were giraffe heads. Intimidating. The image you’re seeing is literally the mask they wore. Then they stopped at a one-stop store in Kings Norton. Wasif located a highly flammable aerosol can which he would use to start the fire. Satisfied, the couple bought the can and returned home.
They arrived home around 7:00 p.m. before they were locked out. Wasif looked over at Nabila and told her:
“We should have done this yesterday. How do you manage to lock yourself out the day you want to commit a murder?”
As I said, hm, intimidating. Wasif couldn’t help but wonder if this plan was going to work.
Arifa let them in, then returned to her room upstairs where she was tending to her young daughter. Wasif followed Arifa upstairs. While they were up there, Nabila went into the kitchen and noticed there were many dirty dishes in the sink. She found this ironic since she hadn’t been home all day. Arifa didn’t do them. Remember the stepmom, Arifa, was always getting on Nabila for leaving a mess around the house. So Nabila got her phone, took a picture, sent it to Wasif, pointing out this hypocrisy. She then joined Wasif upstairs where they changed clothes, donned their masks, put on gloves, and grabbed their weapons. Wasif armed himself with a hammer and a large knife. Once they were ready, the two returned downstairs and waited in the dark kitchen for Arifa.
So Arifa comes downstairs. She enters the kitchen. When she turned the lights on, she saw them two with masks on standing in the dark. Now, instead of screaming or wondering what’s going on, she basically ignored them. Because in her mind, Wasif and Nabila played around on social media. So, Arifa thought:
“Oh, they’re just making a TikTok or something.”
They looked ridiculous with their masks on. Arifa just carried on making food.
So, Wasif took this moment to strike. Once she had taken a few steps towards the counter, Arifa was violently struck in the back of the head with a hammer. It wasn’t hard enough to knock her unconscious because Wasif, well, he was considerably weak and the plan was already falling apart.
Arifa fell on the floor, clutching her head in pain. She began to scream for help. Wasif dropped the hammer, climbed on top of her, and began punching her in the face repeatedly, hoping to knock her out.
But Arifa wasn’t giving up. She continued to fight back even while Wasif tried to strangle her with both hands. When that wasn’t working, he switched to bearing his forearm down on Arifa’s throat. He yelled in her face that he was going to kill her and demanded an apology for what she had done.
Nabila stood back and watched while Arifa begged her for help. Nabila was in shock. She had just married this man and only a month later was watching him trying to murder his stepmother. How did she get to this place in life?
Arifa began trying to inch her way over to where Nabila was, reaching her arm and begging for mercy. Nabila, looking for approval from her husband, pushed the woman away further into the kitchen. And at this point, Nabila began assisting Wasif. She sat on Arifa’s legs while holding her hands down by her side.
Wasif told his wife:
“We need to finish her off. Get the knife. Finish her now.”
Arifa was pinned down, horrified as she heard Nabila tell her husband to kill her. And possibly in this moment, Arifa is thinking, “Why are they doing this? Where is Muhammad?” She watched as Nabila handed the knife off to Wasif before the boy began stabbing his father’s wife mercilessly.
Luckily, Arifa was wearing thick clothing, and Wasif’s lack of strength made it to where there were barely any real punctures. Arifa blocked a few jabs with her hand, leaving deep gashes between her thumb and index finger. Her arms were being cut up as she fought back hard. Luckily, she was wearing several layers of clothes to keep warm in the winter, which made it difficult for the knife to pierce through.
Realizing his plan was falling apart, Wasif resorted yet again to attempting to strangle Arifa. She begged him to stop. Then he did because he just got too tired. Either that or he started to realize, “Oh crap, what am I doing?” And I know his mental illnesses and his physical condition is no joke, but in many ways that could be the reason why she didn’t die, because he wasn’t strong enough to do it.
And in the moment, Nabila was no help to Wasif. She was too confused and overwhelmed by the situation to take any action on her own accord. Arifa begged Wasif to let her live, crying and pleading. This made the boy feel unstable and he rapidly apologized one minute later, and he kept blaming Arifa and his father for allowing this to happen. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to go through with it or not.
Arifa told him she would not call the police if they let her and Muhammad go and that she would say the injuries on her hands were from an accident. So miraculously, Wasif let her go.
Immediately after though, Arifa ran upstairs to get her daughter and immediately called the police. Wasif and Nabila knew, “Oh no, we are done for.” They had seriously botched the plan and would be locked away for a long time if caught.
So then it was time for an escape. The young couple quickly caught a train to Bolton and checked into a Travelodge. West Midlands police wasted no time in finding the fugitives. They were located at the Travelodge in the early hours of the following morning and were promptly taken into custody for attempted murder.
Nabila was frightened during police questioning. She found herself in a compromising position for the sake of pleasing her new husband. Consider this. They had only known each other for a few months. I’ve slept longer than a few months. Immediately after getting married, they moved in together. And then after that, the girl’s newlywed husband is asking her to commit murder.
Nabila, being intellectually limited herself, found difficulty in telling people no. She needed a role model. Instead, she got a killer husband. She told detectives:
“I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t stop. But I wanted to let Arifa go because I’m not a criminal. Because I’ve never attempted ever in my life to commit murder.”
This is when investigators were informed of the original plan. They were going to kill Arifa, then Muhammad, burning the bodies next to the house. However, they only bought one can and they realized after, “Hold on, how are we going to burn the bodies with one can? What are we going to accomplish?”
It’s clear though, Nabila wasn’t a violent person. She had a hard time restraining Arifa because she was also weak and uncertain of her actions. This poor woman was begging for help, looking in the eye and asking for mercy. At the same time, she saw the violence her husband was capable of. How could Nabila say no to Wasif? Guilt and insecurity led her to this point.
And I know I may sound like I’m sympathizing with Nabila who could have stopped this at any moment, but trust me, understand there was never a moment in Nabila’s life where anyone ever tried to talk to her. How are you? How are you feeling? Do you have many friends? Do you feel wanted? Do you feel needed? Do you feel like you belong? Because that’s all she ever would have wanted. I think Wasif manipulated her. And also, she’s only 18. She gets married. She moves into a house where her mother-in-law may not be treating her right or whatever. That’s going to drive anyone insane. So, I’m not justifying her behavior. I’m contextualizing her behavior.
And during the course of Nabila’s interview, detectives realized she most likely didn’t understand the gravity of what Wasif was asking her to do. Her defense team dug into her personal records to find evidence of long diagnosed disabilities.
So the question was, what are the courts going to do when the people committing the crime are intellectually disabled? The judge and jury proceeded carefully through this difficult case. On one hand, there were two individuals who committed an egregious crime but suffered from severe mental hindrances. On the other hand, they had a woman who was completely and utterly traumatized from the attempt on her life because Arifa did survive.
Arifa told the courts everything that happened. She was crying in the courtroom, she was having a panic attack. She said she received multiple lacerations from the knife and a large cut on the back of her head from where Wasif hit her with a hammer. It was immensely painful and led to a long-lasting head injury. Her neck and face had been bruised from the assault with red welts showing where she was strangled. She told the court she still suffers from headaches due to the impact of the hammer and her body has loads of scars.
Arifa suffered significant psychological harm, including flashbacks and a sense of panic when people come to the door. The trauma from that night was so intense she was forced to move houses, feeling as though her previous one was tainted. Her mental health was shattered. She never expected her stepson to commit such a heinous act against her. How could he try to kill her? Did he really hate her that much? Was he getting revenge for his mother passing away?
The court watched the CCTV footage of Wasif and Nabila attacking Arifa. It was an intense watch for everyone as they could hear the impact of the hammer on Arifa’s skull cutting into her skin. This video in court showed everything. Even Wasif and Nabila climbing on top of her, holding her down before Wasif began attempting to stab her to death.
Arifa told the court:
“I still panic when the door is knocked. I can feel the fear in my body. I’m terrified they have returned to finish me off. I live with this for the rest of my family.”
The younger couple had called her a gold digger and other insulting things. Arifa recalled how she could hear her younger daughter upstairs crying out and begging to be let go, if not for her, for her daughter. She wondered if they were going to hurt a little girl and she needed to get up to be with her. Her daughter was only an infant and saw the painful injuries on her mother. She worried she may be affected by the scarring experience as well.
Wasif and Nabila, though they denied it being attempted murder, looked remorseful in court. Since this was a special situation regarding the mental capacity of the defendants, the judge carefully considered their medical records. Wasif’s defense was not able to provide any records except for the initial diagnosis. There were no further tests to determine his intellectual abilities.
Nabila’s defense, however, located many of her elementary school and early childhood records, and they found that there was a clear pattern of behavior. Nabila’s IQ fell under 70 points. And according to the National Institute of Health and Care, they had excellence guidelines and for them a score of 70 below along with a significant impairment of social or adaptive functioning. This indicated an intellectual disability and with them Nabila scored a 66. The judge determined this score put her in a mild disorder of intellectual development.
He also acknowledged that her difficulties did play a significant role both because they affected her ability to exercise appropriate judgment and also because they led to her being vulnerable and impressionable, which in turn played a part in how and why she agreed to her husband’s plan to commit murder. Her psychologist also recognized she had communication difficulties, including problems with reasoning, comprehension, memory, and processing speed. Her personality revealed both avoidant and dependent traits, meaning she could switch from appearing cooperative to then becoming resentful and angry. She had a past of seeking relationships with people she believed could care for her and lead her.
As a child, Nabila had to receive one-on-one assistance at school. A former teacher described her as a young woman with the cognitive ability of a child. That’s so sad. I mean, put yourself in Nabila’s shoes. Was she the victim or is she a criminal? She was unemployed as well as Wasif and showed some comprehension of the gravity of the situation, but overall she was not equipped to truly understand the coming consequences of her actions.
Nabila’s defense came forward during the proceedings and told the court she didn’t appreciate or understand what she was doing fully. The pre-sentence report states she was regretful but still minimizing in terms of her actions. What they meant here is that she didn’t understand her actions but she was also intentionally downplaying them to avoid a serious punishment.
The defense lawyer continued she was still talking about the difficulties she was going through in her household and the circumstances she found herself in. She wasn’t trying to minimize anything. She told me to tell your honor she absolutely regrets what she did.
Wasif himself was also adamant he didn’t understand what he was doing. He told the court he only wanted to scare Arifa and he had no real plans to take her life. His emotions got the better of him and he blacked out.
However, we can agree this was a premeditated attack. Wasif did not black out every day leading up to the night. There was no way he did not know what he was doing. He wanted the court to believe he had no real recollection of the events that took place, although he had planned all of it. I mean, how could you plot a murder for weeks and then be like, “Oh, I don’t know what I was doing.” No matter the disabilities Wasif faced, he was still able to reason right from wrong and knew what he did was bad.
Wasif’s lawyer told the court:
“This young man, as he says, knows his actions were wrong. He can legitimately be said to be remorseful and regretful. He is fully cognizant of the horror of the situation and it can be said he already shows a degree of insight. Maybe further in time this insight will deepen. He is fully reminiscent of the horror of the situation.”
In the trial, Wasif’s brother-in-law also wrote to the judge to suggest his intellectual limitations are profound and that it’s his understanding the world is vastly different for Wasif than other people. What a way to put it. I mean, is it possible Wasif had no clue what he was doing? Was this a case where the villain is just another victim of abuse and emotional neglect? I completely disagree. I think Wasif knew what he was doing.
In the trial, they went into more detail about Wasif’s troubled childhood with his father and his mother deleting herself. It was said that these are traumatic parts of his life which he would not seek to in any way minimize or try to excuse what he has done. It’s a very unusual situation for someone his age. He’s still old enough to know what he’s doing. Perhaps if Muhammad found the help and guidance his son needed, perhaps the situation wouldn’t have happened. I don’t think Muhammad knew how much Wasif needed him after his father died, which I’m sorry, but it’s stupid. It’s Muhammad’s duty to look after his son after such a tragic, tragic event. Wasif needed someone to step in for him and guide him through the grief, but no one did it.
The closest person to him after his siblings was his wife and they barely knew each other. The couple still had a long way to go and could have had a successful relationship. Ideally, you would think that once this couple gets married, Arifa and Muhammad could have provided support for each other, assisted them.
So with all of this, the judge had to decide the culpability of Wasif and Nabila. He had to consider all the different aspects of the crime. There were multiple aggravating features that could lead to a longer sentence. They are considered additional offenses within the crime that could lengthen one’s time in custody.
The first feature was attacking Arifa in the house. The living nightmare made her feel like she had to move out. She couldn’t look at her kitchen the same.
Second, there was an infant in the house. And not only was the infant in the house, but she could hear the commotion downstairs and also saw the cuts on her mother.
Third, they had the plan to burn the bodies. This element shows the intention. They were killing with a purpose. Arifa and Muhammad had to die because they had done too much damage to the couple. This was a case of revenge.
Lastly, the extent of Arifa’s injuries, particularly her psychological ones, are further aggravating features.
The court also had to consider the mitigating points which permitted a sentence reduction. There were many factors. It was complicated. Wasif truly believed he was being oppressed to the extent his actions felt justified. He was only 20 and at the time he was extremely immature for his age. And while the judge did not think his disabilities reduced Wasif’s responsibility, the judge acknowledged that the disabilities had a part to play. They compromised his ability to think about other ways of resolving the issues with Muhammad and Arifa.
And it’s important to note Wasif had never committed a crime before. He was a law-abiding citizen who was actively seeking a job and was looking forward to starting a new life with his wife. Prison for him is going to be difficult. He had never been without some form of caregiver or responsible adult to help him through life. There was never any expectation that Wasif be out on his own. He heavily relied on his parents to guide him. Prison would not allow for him to have any form of care provider. These factors led to the sentencing being reduced.
And since Nabila was less enrolled and her disabilities were more burdensome, her sentencing was shorter. They both received sentence reductions by a third of the original time. The judge thought it was most likely that they would not reoffend because of the circumstances. To the judge, this was an isolated incident.
Wasif was sentenced to 15 years. He was considered to have high culpability.
Nabila was sentenced to 9 years. She was considered to have medium culpability.
There was a restraining order put in place between them and Arifa. And who knows if Muhammad will choose to have any contact with Wasif when he gets out. Could you have a relationship with your son who tried to kill your wife? Mate, that is a dilemma for the ages.
The prosecutor told the press the attack took place against a background of broken down familial relations. Both the newlyweds were remorseful and regretful and Wasif thought he was being noble by defending his wife to the highest degree.
Wasif’s defense told the court the stepmother came into their lives and initially it appears he was able to talk to her. But as time went on, things became difficult. Nabila’s defense was trying to portray her as a helpless wife who couldn’t stand up for herself. And it’s possible that this is not far from the truth. She was easily influenced by her husband’s passion against his stepmother. Wasif felt like he wanted to defend his wife. So perhaps she felt obligated to help him.
And it’s like I’m trying to react to this and tell you the story in the manner in which I did because a lot of the times I’ll throw in a joke here or there. I’ll ridicule the, you know, the criminals etc. But like as I said, I grew up in a similar environment. Not a bad one. But I’m just saying the Pakistani culture, right? I had a wonderful upbringing. My parents are great. But I came across so many kids in my school who now when I look back, I thought if there was only some kind of, what do you guys call it, early intervention or some kind of help to help nurture these children. Then maybe everything would have been so different for these two.
Anyway, comment. Tell me what you think.
“Have you got the key?”
“Yeah, I got the key. I got this.”
“Is this your recent date?”
“No, that’s 27. Huh?”
