Imam Who Ran Over Man With His Car Thought It Was Dustbin

An Imam yelled obscenities at bystanders attempting to warn him before running over and killing a man who was lying in the middle of the road. The Imam later told police he believed the man’s body was a trash bag.

On May 4, 2021, Qari Hazarvi Abbasi, 72, hit Harvinder Singh, 49, while he was en route to offer morning prayers at the Abubakr Mosque in Southall, west London.

Two bystanders attempted to reroute the cars past Mr Singh after noticing him lying in the centre of Lady Margaret Road, according to Mail Online.

However, Abassi disregarded their warnings and had them leap out of the path before he ran over Mr Singh’s head and chest.

Muttering something along the lines of “Sister f****r, child of a pimp,” he drove off.

Abassi said he might have run over a garbage bag to the police when he was apprehended at his house around five in the morning.

At 4:11 a.m. the next morning, Mr. Singh passed away from his wounds, which included broken ribs on his right side, liver injury, and abdominal haemorrhage.

Before he was discovered on the road, he had declared his intention to commit suicide.

Abassi stated that because he believed the two individuals warning him of the danger were intoxicated, he did not stop.

A pre-sentence investigation was ordered by Judge Rebecca Poulet, KC, to determine how Abassi’s age might impact him in prison.

When the Imam hit Mr Singh, he was travelling at 25 mph in a 20 mph zone. The two bystanders were on the road, alerting Abassi to the impending danger, according to what the prosecutor, Alexander Agbamu, had earlier explained to the court.

“Mr Abassi disregarded those warnings and did not slow his approach, causing the members of the public to jump out of the way to avoid being hit themselves.

“He drove over Mr Singh and continued to drive on without stopping. Mr Singh sustained devastating injury and was pronounced dead later that morning.”

Using an interpreter to translate into Urdu, Abassi testified that he had not stopped when he noticed the men because he believed they might have been intoxicated.

He said: “While I was driving I saw two men standing on the road and they were showing some gestures towards me and I thought ‘Why are they doing these gestures with their hands towards me? Either they want a lift or they are drunk’.

“There was something lying on the road which I thought was a bin or briefcase or something, and these men with their gestures.

“So I was thinking ‘Why are they doing this to me for being a human being, so I made some comments which were sweary’.

“It was never in my mind that some human being or person was there.

“When people ask you to stop and you don’t know those people, you don’t stop for that reason.”

The prosecutor asked him: “Do you think you did anything wrong”?

Abassi replied: “No”.

Although Abassi, of Longboat Row, Southall, denied causing a death through reckless driving, she was found guilty.

Bail was granted to the clergyman before to his sentencing on an unspecified date.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli