30 January 2024 , 19:00
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Mother Ansreen Bukhari shared a tight bond with her TikTok influencer daughter, and knew she could turn to her in a time of need.
The 47-year-old was described by 23-year-old Mahek as an 'elite mum', who often enthusiastically starred in her videos online. So when her secret relationship with a much younger man took a sinister turn, she confided in Mahek. But the ill-fated affair soon saw their lives unravel as they steered a murder plot, with the age-gap lover killed alongside his innocent friend.
As told in tonight's ITV documentary - TikTok: Murder Gone Viral - The Mother and Daughter Killings - Hashim Ijazuddin and Saqib Hussain, both 21, died in a horrific 100mph car crash on the A46 in Leicester on February 11, 2022, after being chased. It was Ansreen's relationship with Saqib Hussain that led to both Bukharis, from Stoke-on-Trent, being jailed for life over the two murders.
Mahek Bukhari (right) and her mother Ansreen Bukhari were sentenced to life over the double murder (PA)
Saqib Hussain blackmailed the mother, threatening to expose their relationship (PA)Secret couple Ansreen and Saqib had been having an affair for three years after meeting in 2019 through the online video app, Azar. They exchanged numbers and began chatting, although their relationship was on and off. Detective Inspector Mark Parish, from Leicestershire Police, said the mum was "flattered" by the interest Saqib had shown in her. They met several times in hotels, restaurants and shisha lounges.
Mahek said she had not known her mother was having an affair with Saqib in May 2021, despite the fact she was at a party in Banbury with both of them that month when they were seen hugging and kissing "throughout" the event. Mahek insisted she only found out about the affair in December 2021.
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One witness who was also a the party in May 2021 said: "Thoughout the evening I noticed Saqib and the older female [Ansreen] holding hands, kissing and hugging." He said they also went to the bedroom together at one point. Caught out on the stand during the trial, Mahek said she did at one point notice Saqib try to kiss her mother and she had asked Ansreen if anything was going on, but Ansreen denied it. Mahek said: "Saqib tried to kiss my mum. They were really close together." But the affair turned sour, with Ansreen trying to break it off. He pleaded with her to reconsider and threatened to send explicit content of his lover to her husband.
'Anzy' met her secret lover at restaurants and in hotelsToward the end of 2021, Ansreen couldn't take it any longer and revealed all to her daughter, who decided to take the blackmail into her own hands. However, Mahek had enlisted help from her friend Rekan Karwan, who also involved his best friend Raees Jamal, as well as Raees' cousin Ameer Jamal, and other friends Sanaf Gulummustafa, Natasha Akhtar and Mohammed Patel.
On January 4, 2022, Mahek sent her mother a message which read: "I'll get him jumped by guys and he won't know what day it is." When Mr Hussain also tried to get Mahek to get her mother to reply to him, the influencer replied: "She ain't a dog, don't f** raise your voice and tell me what to do."
Later, she allegedly told him: "I am sorry that this year you'll be gone, Saqib." Det Insp Parish added: "Knowing the family of Saqib and having been with them throughout, I know they would have dealt with Saqib and stopped him from doing what he was doing.
"If [the Bukahris] would have spoken to the police, this would not have happened. It would not have got to this stage." Instead, the mother and daughter lured Saqib, who was driven by his friend from Banbury in Oxfordshire, to a Tesco car park in Leicester to meet for the supposed cash - the sum he'd complained he spent on Ansreen while they were together.
But Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin sensed something was wrong and were ambushed by a masked gang, recruited by the Bukharis, and chased in their Skoda Fabia on the A46 before crashing into a tree in a ball of flames. In a harrowing 999 call, Mr Hussain told operators that he believed people in balaclavas in two cars were trying to ram them off the road and kill them - before the call cut out in the crash. After the police were called at 1.30am, their bodies were recovered in the burnt-out car.
The duo plotted together to take Saqib Hussain down (TikTok)After his death, Mr Hussain's family told detectives he had been having a three-year affair with the older woman, who was married with children. Mr Hussain "appeared to be in love" with Mrs Bukhari, whom he knew as Anzy, while her daughter was "aware of the relationship, and was happy to tolerate it, if not approve of it".
Judge Timothy Spencer KC told the court at their sentencing: "The prosecution categorised this as a story of love, obsession and extortion and in that they were right. They were also right in categorising this case as one of cold-blooded murder."
Mahek, of George Eardley Close in Stoke was sentenced to life in prison. She will serve a minimum of 31 years and eight months before she can be freed. Ansreen, of the same address, was also given life with a minimum of 26 years and nine months.
Raees Jamal, of Lingdale Close, is already serving a 10-year jail term for raping a woman at his home in Loughborough in 2020. He has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 36 years. 28-year-old Karwan, of Tomlin Road, Leicester, sentenced alongside Ansreen, also has 26 years and nine months to wait for parole, with a short deductions of a few months for time served on tagged curfew.
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Natasha Akhtar, 23, of Alum Rock Road, Birmingham, was convicted of manslaughter and given a 12-year sentence. That was reduced to 11 years and eight months due to time on tagged curfew. Ameer Jamal, 28, Catherine Street, Belgrave, Leicester, will service 14 years and eight months, while Gulammustafa, 22, of Littlemore Close, Crown Hills, Leicester, will serve 14 years and nine months.
TikTok: Murder Gone Viral, ITV, tonight, 9pm on ITV1 and ITX.