This is the screaming video message of threats and obscenities that sensationally ended the whirlwind union of two of Sydney’s most colourful families and forced them into a court room.
Sanaa Mehajer, 22, the little sister of property developer Salim, last week took out an AVO against her estranged husband Mouhamed ‘Moudi’ Tajjour, 34.
Tajjour, the cousin of Kings Cross nightclub identity John Ibrahim and former Nomad bikie, consented to the AVO without admitting to what Ms Mehajer accused him of.
Just a few days after Tajjour was instructed by a court not to contact or approach his ex-wife for 12-months as part of his AVO conditions, Ms Mehajer spoke exclusively to Daily Mail Australia about the couple’s two-day long engagement, their volatile relationship and how she knew it was over on their honeymoon.
Sanaa Mehajer (left), the little sister of property developer Salim, has spoken exclusively with Daily Mail Australia about her volatile marriage to Mouhamed ‘Moudi’ Tajjour (right)
New South Wales Police last week took out an AVO against Tajjour on behalf of Ms Mehajer, 22 (pictured above). Tajjour consented to the AVO without admitting to what he is accused of
THE WHIRLWIND WEDDING: ‘I WAS ON CLOUD NINE’
The second youngest of eight siblings, Sanaa long flew under the radar as her older Mehajer siblings – led by big brother Salim, 31 – regularly made headlines.
But towards the end of 2017 she emerged from the family’s rather large shadow, with Daily Mail Australia revealing she had suddenly tied the knot with Tajjour – the former Nomads national vice-president who was once jailed for manslaughter.
‘We knew of each other prior to my sister’s wedding, but it was our official meeting,’ Ms Mehajer said.
‘We just kicked off from there, we were just the very best of friends I guess. It was like I was on cloud nine and then we decided to get married.
In 2007, the bikie enforcer and his brother Sleiman were convicted of manslaughter over the death of George Nassour. The pair were both jailed, but released in 2010.
But according to Ms Mehajer, the pair never talked about his criminal history.
‘I know what happened because of what is available to read, but I don’t know the ins and outs. His past was his past… I saw beyond it and just didn’t judge him,’ she said.
‘I guess the whole bikie thing is sensationalised a little bit. When you meet his friends and stuff it’s not scary or anything… it’s not like: “Oh my god he’s a bikie”.
‘Early days he was good with people and everybody seemed to like him. I never saw anything negative until our honeymoon… then I was like: “OK, I didn’t actually know you at all”.’
Going from an unknown to making headlines in the space of 48 hours, it wasn’t long until Ms Mehajer’s ‘cloud nine’ marriage was in free fall.
Little more than a fortnight after their Boxing Day wedding the couple jetted away to Asia for their honeymoon (pictured), but their relationship soon began to implode
Court documents tabled as part of last week’s AVO proceedings revealed that Tajjour called Ms Mehajer (pictured) a ‘sl**’ and ‘rat’ repeatedly. Fed up with the abuse, she changed hotel rooms before flying home to Sydney
Tajjour taunted Ms Mehajer on their honeymoon, banging on her hotel door late at night after she had fled their joint room
THE ‘HORRIFIC’ HONEYMOON:
Little more than a fortnight after their Boxing Day wedding the couple jetted away to Asia for their honeymoon. But Ms Mehajer claims it wasn’t with the man she married.
‘We went to Koh Samui, Thailand, and had plans to travel Asia but when the marriage started to breakdown on the honeymoon I didn’t want to,’ she said.
‘Basically there was a change in his personality, a change in behaviour and that didn’t coincide with what I expected (as a wife). I guess some people accept some types of behaviours and attributes, but that wasn’t for me.
‘There were little signs but I guess fights aren’t out of the ordinary in any relationship.
‘(It) started off with the name calling, so things like “sl**”. Fights were followed by apologies, followed by aggression again. It was just up and down like a yo-yo and it started to get emotionally draining, as you can imagine.’
The details of their marriage breakdown were detailed in court documents last week in Burwood Local Court, where Tajjour agreed to the AVO taken out on behalf of Ms Mehajer.
The court files revealed Ms Mehajer was fed up with being called a “rat”, a “sl**” and being abused by her husband on their honeymoon, so moved into a separate hotel room.
But the court heard that Tajjour continued to taunt her by banging on her hotel door late at night, before she was forced to flee her honeymoon and return to Sydney.
‘There was just an exchange of messages which were horrific to say the least. I was by myself, I did not tell anyone, I just told him I was leaving,’ she recalled.
‘It made me question my self-worth. I was raised in a family where my parents taught me to love myself… and I was like: “Why was I feeling so great about myself and I got married and suddenly I’m feeling like a piece of s**t?”.
‘I knew that it was over the day he called me a sl** and I knew that it would only get worse from there, and it did.’
Leaving for Sydney on February 5, the pair had one final ‘civil’ discussion in the hotel lobby during which Tajjour gave her his apartment keys and credit card and told her to ‘get back on her feet’.
But just over an hour later, by the time she’d made it from Koh Samui to Bangkok, the goodwill was gone.
‘At Bangkok airport I just received an influx of texts from him abusing the hell out of me. Midway through the messages he’d apologise, say “I love you”, and then start all over again.’
Ms Mehajer (centre left) and Tajjour (centre right) married on Boxing Day in 2017, just two days after the former Nomads bikie proposed
Ms Mehajer is the younger sister of disgraced property developer Salim (pictured with ex-wife Aysha)
A SECOND CHANCE: ‘I SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED MY INTUITION’
Flying back into Sydney under the radar, Ms Mehajer booked into a hotel room, not wanting her parents, family and friends to know about her failed marriage.
But they were to find out soon enough, as Tajjour launched a tirade of abuse towards his now ex-wife through social media.
‘When I got back to Sydney he got really aggressive about the fact that I’d changed my Instagram name back to my maiden name,’ Ms Mehajer said.
‘There was a point where if he couldn’t contact me, he’d abuse my family… (or) have his friends and family contact me. I didn’t speak to anyone about my issues.
‘I guess nobody really knew the extent of what was going on, I kept that to myself.’
Despite portraying himself as a hard man, Tajjour’s emotions were a rollercoaster. As soon as he’d launched an attack he would come grovelling back, Ms Mehajer claims.
After launching an attack on Ms Mehajer he soon came grovelling back, apologising for his actions and trying to win her back.
‘When he got back to Sydney he was really apologetic. He said: “I really want you back”,’ Ms Mehajer said.
‘He acknowledged his actions, I went to pick up my things from our apartment and we had a massive chat and agreed to give our marriage a second go.
‘At the time I thought it deserved a shot. I believed that it was my duty as a wife to support him… so I gave my marriage a second go.’
Reuniting on Valentines Day this year, Ms Mehajer said things instantly returned to being ‘sunshines and rainbows’.
Tajjour (pictured) enters Burwood Local Court after NSW Police took out an AVO on behalf of Ms Mehajer
The cousin of Kings Cross nightclub identity John Ibrahim consented to the AVO in Burwood Local Court without admitting to what Ms Mehajer accused him of
In 2007, Tajjour (left) bikie enforcer and his brother Sleiman (right) were both convicted of manslaughter over the death of George Nassour. They were released in 2010
But in less than three weeks their relationship returned to its dark depths, as Tajjour proved that his Thailand behaviour was not a one-off.
‘It took a couple of weeks, but March 4 was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I saw the same person that he was when we were in Thailand.
‘We were driving and we were fighting about something so irrelevant. I asked him to let me out of the car and he started calling me a “sl**, a mutt and a rat”.
‘I said: “I’m going to get out when it stops”. He threatened me and said: “If you get out, I’m going to pull you back in”.
‘When the car was stationary I opened the door. Half my body was out of the car and he pulled me back in.’
When Tajjour finally stopped further up the road, Ms Mehajer jumped out and spent an hour outside a western Sydney petrol station before catching an Uber back to their apartment – a move she admits she “didn’t think about”.
THE AVO: ‘DO YOU WANT ME TO SHOOT HER?’
Walking in the front door to their place she was confronted by the bikie enforcer who threatened to throw her belongings over the balcony.
After packing her bags she claims he also pulled at her hand in an attempt to prize back the wedding he gave her just months earlier.
Leaving her and Tajjour’s apartment, Ms Mehajer moved back into her parents’ home in Lidcombe.
But despite agreeing not to air their dirty laundry in public the heavily-tattooed bikie continued to torment Ms Mehajer over social media, even using his friends’ accounts when she blocked him.
‘I received numerous emails calling me a “sl**” just because I’m with a male friend for instance. He would get his friends to message me because he was blocked – I not once posted anything about him,’ she said.
Having put up with Tajjour’s aggression towards her for several months, Ms Mehajer was left shaken and scared by his behaviour on Wednesday, April 4.
After a series of Instagram posts accusing his ex-wife of a variety of things, the 23-year-old finally bit back.
‘What I did was re-post what he’d posted about me on my story. It wasn’t something I wanted to do but I felt like I had to go to his level to make him stop,’ Ms Mehajer said.
‘I realised our discussion and back and forth emails to agree to never post anything wasn’t enough for him to stop… I felt like I had to go to his level to make him stop.
‘I think he took my kindness for weakness and he took advantage of me… I think he thought I was voiceless and I didn’t know my rights, but he’s messing with a potential lawyer.’
But Ms Mehajer’s retaliation set Tajjour off on a rampage. Again, with Instagram as his chosen medium, he launched a 50 second video tirade announcing that he was near her parents’ home and threatening to turn up.
Tajjour (left) is the cousin of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim (right)
On April 4, Tajjour turned up at the home of Ms Mehajer’s parents in his luxury Audi (pictured) and told her father in Arabic: ‘Do you want me to shoot her?’
‘That video was posted and then soon after he arrived at my residence. I called the police when that video was made and told them what was going on. I knew immediately from that video that I wanted to seek an AVO, because he is quite threatening,’ she said.
Arriving at the home of her parents within minutes, Ms Mehajer locked the doors and hid inside as her father confronted Tajjour on the front lawn, court papers revealed.
During the argument Tajjour allegedly said to Mr Mehajer in Arabic: ‘Do you want me to shoot her?’
Left ‘sick and scared’ by the confrontation, Ms Mehajer immediately sought an AVO.
‘Before I used to call his bluff when he’d say certain things or threaten certain things, but this time, the fact that he actually made that video and came to my house, he actually instilled fear in me,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I wanted an AVO, because he shouldn’t be allowed to do what he wants and dictate my life. I felt like everything was on his terms, he wanted to control my life.’
BLAMING THE VICTIM: ‘HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW?’
As news of police taking an AVO out against Tajjour became public, Ms Mehajer says she was blamed by many for their tumultuous marriage.
While many only saw Tajjour’s tattoos and criminal past, the university student claims from what she’d experienced behind closed doors she never imagined things would end how they did.
‘Some people have been like “How did you not know who he was? It’s your fault”, but when you’re with someone 24 hours a day you don’t see that,’ Ms Mehajer said.
‘He was great with people, great with children and all that… as silly as it sounds given his background and all that, it was unforeseeable that he’d get to this point.
‘It was unforeseeable’: Ms Mehajer said she never imagined her marriage to Tajjour would fall apart in the manner that it did
Ms Mehajer (left) poses for a photo with younger sister Mary (right) at a gala ball in 2017
‘So when it did happen I sought an AVO because he’s unpredictable and delusional. I have a feeling that after that car incident he had a feeling that we’d kiss and make up again like we always do, but it wasn’t a matter of that anymore.
‘I don’t think he even realised his behaviour and what I’d see. I think we were on two different levels… I’m not going to raise children with this person.’
Ms Mehajer also revealed that when caught up in the initial love affair, she briefly quit her studies and stopped working, a move she soon regretted.
‘When I got married I put my career on hold. I don’t know why, I shouldn’t have. I just thought at the time that my goal was to have children and then I realised this is not the case,’ she said.
‘That was the lowest part of my life, I was just a wife and nothing more – I was bored out of my brains.’
MOVING ON: ‘I’M RELIEVED, I CAN FOCUS ON MY CAREER NOW’
Appearing at Burwood Local Court last Thursday, Tajjour agreed to the set conditions of the Apprehended Violence Order which will be in place for at least the coming 12 months.
Although it’s only a piece of paper, Ms Mehajer claims the order has already brought her comfort and allowed the law student at University of Technology Sydney to focus on her future.
‘I’m relieved that I have this order, because although we were over before, I felt like it wasn’t because of his intimidation on social media, I felt like it was never ending,’ she said.
‘I publicly share my life because I can. I shouldn’t be scared because someone tells me not to, or because someone is not going to be happy about who I’m with – that’s their problem.
Moving on: Ms Mehajer is continuing her law studies at University of Sydney and is planning to start her own charity ‘Girls on a Mission’
In happier times: Speaking with Daily Mail Australia, Ms Mehajer told how on one occasion the bikie enforcer ‘pulled her back into the car by her hair’ as she tried to escape following a fight
‘It was worrying me in terms of my reputation and career. Now that I have this court order in place I feel so much more relieved. I can focus on my career, I can focus on my charity, and it’s motivated me.’
In the wake of her marriage breakdown Ms Mehajer has continued to study and work part-time at a Sydney law firm. But she’s also found a new passion with plans to start her own charity ‘Girls on a Mission’.
Following in the footsteps of younger sister Mary, 20, she hopes the foundation will be able to help women in poverty and ‘suffering’ from ‘domestic violence’.
‘The whole controlling factor that he had pushed me even more to fight for women’s rights and made me so much more passionate about what I’m doing because now it is personable to me,’ she said.
‘My story probably isn’t anywhere near as intense as someone else’s, but it’s driven my passion to fight for women and the voiceless.’
Under the conditions of the AVO, Tajjour (pictured) can not contact his estranged wife for 12 months, is not allowed to go within 100 metres of her parents’ Lidcombe home and cannot go near her university