29 January 2024 , 22:00
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A woman branded a “cold-blooded killer” in court for murdering two men boasted of her TikTok fame in a police interview about the deaths.
Influencer Mahek Bukhari, 24, was labelled a “cold-blooded killer” in court for her involvement in a murder plot that claimed the lives of two friends. She recruited a gang who rammed a car, killing friends Saqib Hussain, 21, and Hashim Ijazuddin, 21. She will be at the centre of a new ITV true-crime series TikTok: Murder Gone Viral after she was convicted of murdering her married mum's ex-lover and his pal.
The content creator, who boasted more than 160,000 followers on social media, had hatched a plan to silence Hussain when he threatened to release explicit images and videos to expose the long-running affair. In a video clip of a police interview in February 2022, Bukhari says: “I don’t know if I should mention this now, but I am out there on social media, I am a social media influencer.”
Reflecting on the comment, Det Insp Mark Parish tells an ITV documentary: “Mahek was more than happy to tell us about her TikTok and Instagram lifestyle. We didn’t have to ask her.” Bukhari had more than 160,000 TikTok followers, and had an income from brand promotion, getting paid to go to events with her mum Ansreen, 46.
YouTube and TikTok content creator Mahek Bukhari told police about her influencer lifestyle (Police handout)It was Ansreen’s relationship with Saqib Hussain that led to both Bukharis being jailed for the two murders. Saqib and Ansreen had been having an affair and when she ended it, he threatened to send explicit images to her husband.
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The Bukharis lured Mr Hussain to a Leicester car park, promising to pay him £3,000. But Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin 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.
During the car chase, Mr Hussain called 999 and told the operator people in balaclavas in two cars were trying to ram them off the road and kill them. The call cut out as the car crashed.
Det Insp Parish tells the documentary: “The only time I notice any remorse is when Mahek hears the 999 call being played to her. But I’m not sure it’s remorse at the call. I think it’s more to do with the fact that she recognises how serious a position she is in.”
Mahek has been jailed for murder (Instagram)
Both mother and daughter were found guilty of murder (Tik Tok)In September, Mahek Bukhari was sentenced to a minimum of 31 years and eight months’ jail, and her mother to 26 years and nine months. The people recruited by the Bukharis also received lengthy jail sentences.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC told Mahek: “Your tawdry fame as an influencer has made you utterly self obsessed with... no apparent awareness of the impact you have on others, oblivious to the damage you do.”
Speaking in TikTok: Murder Gone Viral, Det Insp Parish says: “If it wasn’t for social media, I do believe that Saqib and Hashim would be alive today.” The ITV series also features footage of the mum and daughter from their social media videos and a re-enactment of the 999 call made during the car chase.
A distressed Saqib is heard saying: "They hit into the back of the car very fast. They're trying to ram us off the road. Please, I’m begging you, I think I’m going to die, I think I’m going to die."
- TikTok: Murder Gone Viral, ITV, tonight, 9pm on ITV1 and ITX.