TikToker Mahek Bukhari and her mother convicted of shocking double murder

A Pakistan-origin TikTok influencer and her mother have been convicted of orchestrating a fatal car crash that claimed the lives of two young men.  

The jury reached the verdict after 28 hours of deliberation in a three-month trial at Leicester Crown Court. The victims, Saqib Hussain and Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21, died when their car was rammed off the road in February 2022.

During the trial, evidence revealed that Mahek Bukhari, the 24-year-old TikTok influencer, had set up a trap for Saqib Hussain by luring him to a meeting under false pretenses. Prosecutors argued that this was in response to Hussain's threats of revealing an affair he had with Ansreen Bukhari, Mahek Bukhari's mother.

The court heard that the victims' car was pursued by two vehicles driven by fellow defendants Rekhan Karwan and Raees Jamal. The pursuers rammed the victims' car, causing it to split in two and catch fire upon hitting a tree. The front-seat passenger, Saqib Hussain, made a desperate 999 call moments before the crash, in which he pleaded for help as the assailants tried to force their car off the road.

Both Mahek Bukhari and her mother Ansreen Bukhari broke down in tears as the guilty verdicts were read out. The jury also found Rekhan Karwan and Raees Jamal guilty of murder, while Natasha Akhtar, Ameer Jamal, and Sanaf Gulamustafa were convicted of manslaughter. Another co-accused, Mohammed Patel, was found not guilty.

The families of the victims expressed their grief and sorrow in statements, emphasising the senselessness of the act that had taken their loved ones away. The judge, Judge Timothy Spencer KC, warned the defendants that the sentences would be severe. The sentencing is scheduled for September 1st.