Killer TikTok stars who thought they were above the law urged followers to help MURDER jilted lover in 100mph car crash
STARING straight at the camera, Mahek Bukhari delivers the chilling line: “A woman could easily kill a man. With the right motivation.”
The TikTok video featuring her lip-syncing to a memorable scene from hit teen drama The Vampire Diaries racked up almost 20,000 likes.
But this was no idle fantasy to gain social media clout with her 160,000 followers.
Just months later, the 24-year- old TikTok star was jailed for life, along with her mum Ansreen, 46, after the pair were both found guilty of two counts of murder.
The mum and daughter, from Stoke-on-Trent, had found themselves embroiled in a web of lies and deceit after mum Ansreen, who often appeared in her daughter’s TikTok videos, had embarked on an ill-fated affair.
And when Saqib Hussain threatened to expose the relationship to Ansreen’s husband, mother and daughter hatched a murderous plot to silence her young lover.
The 21-year-old was found dead in a burning car, along with his friend Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, also 21, after their car was rammed off the road in a 100mph chase in Leicestershire.
Their bodies were so badly burnt, their families could not identify them.
Saqib’s father Sajad is still haunted by what happened. In his first interview since the murders in February 2022, he tells The Sun: “We never expected to bury our own child. It’s still very raw.”
‘Please, I’m begging you – I’m going to die’
And he insists that social media is partly to blame — after Mahek’s “fame” on the site dragged her into a fantasy life.
Dad-of-five Sajad, 46, from Banbury, Oxon, says: “The fame had got to her. She thought she was untouchable, above the law.”
And he believes Saqib, who was around 18 when the affair started, was effectively “groomed” by mum-of-two Ansreen.
Sajad says: “It would have been his first serious relationship. I think he fully trusted her.
“He was so young. It might not have been illegal, but it was still grooming, I think. She is older than his own mother. She should have known better.”
And he says of the social media platform that made Mahek a star: “TikTok played a big part in this. If there was no social media, they might never have met up and none of this would have happened.”
Sajad has decided to break his silence — along with Mohammed Hashim’s father Sikander Hayat — ahead of appearing in ITV documentary, TikTok: Murder Gone Viral — The Mother & Daughter Killers.
Chauffeur driver Sajad says: “Saqib was the apple of our eye.” And property landlord Sikander, 51, says of his son: “Mohammed was a beautiful soul.
“He was totally innocent. He had nothing to do with anything.
“Both of the boys have been murdered for petty things.”
Starting tonight with this shocking case, the new three-part series explores crime cases linked to TikTok.
It details how Mahek, who had dropped out of university to pursue her social media career, was living the high life, attending parties and launch events — often with her mother in tow.
Ansreen said in court: “When I got married I was like a housewife, but with this TikTok thing I was going out more.
“It was like two different lives. It was more excitement. We were out and meeting people and stuff.”
She met 18-year-old Saqib through the video call and live- stream platform Azar, with him reportedly telling her he was 27.
During the course of their three-year relationship, they regularly met up for sexual trysts in hotels in Birmingham and London.
He was said to have lavished £3,000 on date nights and gifts, until things turned sour and she tried to break off the relationship in January 2022.
Saqib struggled with the rejection and it was reported that he tried to blackmail Ansreen by threatening to send nude pictures of her to her son and husband unless she returned the money he had spent on her.
Ansreen confided in daughter Mahek, who responded to her mother via WhatsApp: “I’ll get him jumped by guys and he won’t know what day it is.”
Mum and daughter then set a trap, promising to return the money and arranging to meet Saqib in a supermarket car park in Leicester.
Saqib got a lift to the meeting point with friend Mohammed Hashim, who he had known since primary school.
They arrived in the early hours and quickly realised it was an ambush. Mahek had enlisted the help of her followers, some of whom were present, wearing balaclavas and carrying weapons.
The harrowing 999 call Saqib made just minutes before the fatal crash was played in court.
He said: “I’m being followed by two vehicles and they’re trying to block me in. I can’t get to a police station — I need help right now.
“There’s guys following me. They’ve got balaclavas on. They’re trying to ram me off the road.
“They’re trying to kill me — I’m going to die.”
After giving his name to the operator, Saqib then begs: “They’re hitting into the back of the car very fast. Please, I’m begging you, I’m going to die.”
‘I don’t feel any sympathy for them’
He then lets out a scream before the line goes dead.
The Skoda Fabia had crashed into a tree and “split in two” on impact.
Sajad says: “That’s probably the hardest part — to listen to his last words, knowing how they feared for their lives in those moments. He was begging for help.”
But he says the call was “the biggest clue in this case” as it helped lead detectives to the Bukharis and their associates.
Footage of Mahek shows her eagerness to inform detectives she is an influencer before spinning a web of lies about her whereabouts and what happened that night.
Both women denied two counts of murder and two counts of manslaughter. The pair were found guilty of double murder following a three-month trial at Leicester Crown Court last August.
Mahek was sentenced to serve at least 31 years and eight months, while mum Ansreen was given a minimum term of 26 years and nine months.
Sajad says: “I don’t feel any sympathy towards them because of the amount of lies they told and not showing any sort of remorse.”
Fellow defendants Rekan Karwan, 29, and Raees Jamal, 23, who were recruited by the Bukharis and who were driving the pursuing cars, were also jailed for life, with a minimum of 26 years and ten months and 31 years respectively.
Jamal has also been convicted of a rape in a separate case, so his minimum term has been increased to 36 years and 45 days.
Three others were found guilty of manslaughter. Natasha Akhtar, 23, was jailed for 11 years and eight months, while Ameer Jamal, 28, and Sanaf Gulamustafa, 23, were jailed for 14 years and eight months and 14 years and nine months respectively. One of the eight people charged was acquitted.
Sajad said one of the reasons he has chosen to speak out is because he feels his son was also the victim of “character assassination” by the defendants during the trial.
Mahek said in court that Saqib “was just pure nasty”. Sajad says: “Only the defendants are here to give their version of events.
“I thought it needed a voice for our son to explain everything that happened.”
He does not know why Saqib kept the relationship a secret, but he says the lad’s friends have since said they knew he was dating “an older woman”.
Sajad also wants to clarify that there was no sex tape.
He says: “They were nude photos that were willingly sent to him.
“He was not really interested in money. I think he wanted to see her one last time. Had he been looking to blackmail her, the amount of money wouldn’t have been as small as that.”
And Mohammed Hashim’s dad Sikander says: “Had I known, I would have raised the £3,000 myself. But it wasn’t about the money.” Saqib worked in a local bakery as a stop gap before pursuing his dream job working in a car dealership. Sikander had been on the way to speak to his son, who worked in an Amazon warehouse, about him enrolling in a gas engineer or electrical course when police knocked on his door to tell him he was dead.
He says: “When she said that, the rug went from under my feet.”
The boys’ mothers were too distraught to attend the trial.
Sikander adds: “There isn’t a single day that goes by when I don’t think about my son.”
Sajad says they have also struggled to come to terms with the tragedy. He explains: “All the defendants have appealed.
“I know there’s a slim chance of them being successful but it’s not letting us get on with our lives.”
- TikTok: Murder Gone Viral is on tonight at 9pm on ITV and ITX.
- TikTok: Murder Gone Viral is on tonight at 9pm on ITV and ITX.