In a case that has gripped the nation, TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari and her mother Ansreen have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the calculated murder of two young men in a horrifying incident on the A46 near Leicester.
The 24-year-old social media personality, who boasted over 130,000 followers, will serve a minimum of 31 years and 8 months for her role in the deadly plot, while her 46-year-old mother received a minimum term of 26 years and 9 months.
The Fatal Blackmail Plot
The court heard how the brutal murders stemmed from Ansreen Bukhari's secret affair with 21-year-old Saqib Hussain. When he threatened to expose their relationship to her husband, mother and daughter conspired to silence him permanently.
On the fateful night of February 11, 2022, the Bukharis lured Hussain and his friend Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, also 21, to a car park under the pretence of returning compromising material. Instead, they found themselves ambushed by two cars in a planned attack.
The Deadly Chase
What followed was a terrifying high-speed pursuit along the A46, where the victims' Skoda Fabia was deliberately rammed off the road at approximately 100mph. The vehicle smashed into a tree and burst into flames, trapping both young men inside as they made desperate calls to emergency services.
In haunting audio played to the court, Hussain can be heard screaming "I'm gonna die" as operators tried to ascertain their location. Both victims suffered unsurvivable injuries in the catastrophic crash.
The Web of Deceit Unravels
Despite initially attempting to portray themselves as witnesses to the incident, the Bukharis' elaborate cover story quickly collapsed under police scrutiny. Evidence revealed they had recruited accomplices Rekan Karwan and Raees Jamal to help carry out their deadly plan.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC delivered a scathing condemnation during sentencing, stating the killers had shown "not a shred of remorse" for their "cold, calculated and ruthless" actions designed to eliminate Hussain as a perceived threat to their family reputation.
Justice Served
In addition to the Bukharis, Karwan received a life sentence with a minimum of 26 years and 10 months, while Jamal was handed a 22-year term for manslaughter. The case has raised serious questions about the dark side of social media influence and the lengths some will go to protect their carefully curated online personas.
As the prison doors close on Mahek Bukhari, her TikTok fame has been replaced with notoriety as one of Britain's most shocking murderers, whose quest for online validation ended in unimaginable tragedy.
