Bukhari’s case dominated headlines last summer.
ITV’s new true crime series, TikTok: Murders Gone Viral, explores three murder cases, each of which went viral on the social media platform.
With exclusive access to the families of the victims and other key contributors, the first case is that of Mahek Bukhari, who was convicted of double murder alongside her mother for causing a fatal car crash.
The disturbing case went viral on TikTok, due to Mahek being an influencer on the app. With never-before-seen footage and exclusive interviews with those closest to the case, the episode will tell the harrowing story of the murders.
Read on for all the details of Mahek Bukhari’s crimes and where she is now.
What is the case of Mahek Bukhari?
Mahek Bukhari was bordering on TikTok fame, with her mother often supporting her growing influencing career.
Yet things took a dark turn that led to the murder of Saqib Hussain.
In 2019, Bukhari’s mother, Ansreen, began speaking with Hussain via the video app Azar. They began talking everyday, and as per reports, their on and off relationship lasted three years.
However, Ansreen had been married for over 20 years, and was not planning on leaving her partner.
Detective Inspector Mark Parish said Ansreen and Hussain met in hotels, restaurants and shisha lounges, but in 2021, Ansreen wanted to end things between them.
Hussain wanted Ansreen to reconsider, and he threatened to send explicit content of Ansreen to her husband and son. At that time, Ansreen told her daughter, who decided to take things into her own hands.
“If [the Bukahris] would have spoken to the police, this would not have happened. It would not have got to this stage,” Parish told the BBC.
Mahek wanted to help her mother, and so she and her friend, Rekan Karwan, planned to lure Hussain to a meeting point by offering £3,000.
In February 2022, a group also including Raees Jamal, Ameer Jamal, Sanaf Gulamustafa and Natasha Akhtar travelled to a Tesco car park in Leicester, where they planned to ambush Hussain. Hussain’s friend, Hashim Ijazuddin, offered to drive him to the meeting place.
“Hashim doesn’t know anything that’s going on, he’s a friend of Saqib’s and he just agreed to drive Saqib to Leicester on the night in question – totally innocently,” Parish told the BBC.
Hussain and Ijazuddin arrived at the car park in the early hours of the morning, and after waiting around, they left – but were followed by two cars.
The cars were a blue Seat Leon, which was driven by Jamal, and an Audi TT, which was driven by Karwan.
Hussain called the police and told the operator he was in a car that was being followed, and said that the car was trying to ram him off of the road.
After the call, Hussain and Ijazuddin continued driving and went through a red light to lose those following them.
The final moments of the 999 call hears the line go silent before “screams and quiet”.
After 1:30am, a recovery driver was driving along the A46 when he saw a car on fire next to a tree. Once he realised no one had called the police, he blocked off the road.
After the fire was put out, one of the police officers saw the bodies of two people in the car. Dental records proved the bodies to be that of Hussain and Ijazuddin.
Further up the road, Mahek took over as the driver of the Audi and Akhtar in the Seat as they pulled over. Once they arrived back in Leicester, they got out of the cars and began walking.
Hussain’s call to 999 was passed on to detectives and they had begun searching ANPR cameras. An alert was put out and two officers spotted Akhtar’s Seat and had found her in at a petrol station. She was arrested and taken into custody.
A little while after 8am, Mahek and Ansreen were awoken after hearing the police speaking to Mahek’s brother and father.
Texts found on Mahek’s phone see her texting her mother, explaining what she was planning to tell the police. Mahek lied to the police and told them on the night of the crash they were on their way to Nottingham for a social media event. The mother and daughter were then arrested and taken to a police station.
One text found from Mahek’s phone read: “I’ll soon get him jumped by guys and he won’t know what day it is. I’ll make sure he gets jumped, he won’t know who did it and how.”
Where is Mahek Bukhari now?
In August 2023, Mahek was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 31 years and eight months.
Her mother, Ansreen, was jailed for life and given a minimum term of 26 years and nine months.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC said: “The prosecution categorised this as a story of love, obsession and extortion and they are right. They were also right in categorising this case as one of cold-blooded murder.”
He told Mahek: “Your tawdry fame through your career as an influencer has made you entirely self-obsessed.”
Before sentencing Ansreen, the judge said her head had been turned by the “perceived glamour” of her daughter’s influencing career.
“You are the grown-up in this group and you should have behaved as the grown-up, but you allowed your understandable concern about exposure to strip you of any rational judgement,” he told Ansreen.
Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal, who drove the cars, were also found guilty of both murders. Karwan was jailed for life with a minimum of 26 years and 10 months. Jamal was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years and 45 days.
Natasha Akhtar, Sanaf Gulamustafa and Ameer Jamal were convicted of two counts of manslaughter. Akhtar was sentenced to 11 years and eight months, Gulamustafa was sentenced to 14 years and nine months and Jamal was jailed for 14 years and eight months.
One other defendant was cleared of all charges.
Looking for something else to watch? Check out more of our Documentaries coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what’s on tonight.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.