Mahek and Ansreen Bukhari sentenced in Leicester over killing of men who died when car was rammed off road
Mahek Bukhari (right) and her mother, Ansreen Bukhari-Image Source: The Guardian
A TikTok influencer and her mother have been jailed for life for the murder of two men who were killed in a high-speed car chase.
Mahek Bukhari, 24, and Ansreen Bukhari, 46, were sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum terms of 31 years and 26 years respectively, at Leicester Crown Court on Friday.
The court heard that the two women were part of a group of people who lured the victims, Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, to a Tesco car park in Leicester in February 2023.
The victims were then pursued by the group at high speed and their car was rammed off the road, causing it to hit a tree and burst into flames.
Hussain and Ijazuddin, both 21, died at the scene.
The court heard that the motive for the murders was that Hussain had been having an affair with Ansreen Bukhari and she had ended the relationship.
Hussain had threatened to send sexually explicit photos of Ansreen to her husband if she did not repay him £3,000 he claimed he had spent on her.
In the early hours of the day of the murders, Mahek Bukhari arranged to meet Hussain at the Tesco car park under the pretence of giving him the money.
However, when Hussain arrived at the car park, he was chased by the group of people and his car was rammed off the road.
The judge, Timothy Spencer QC, said that the murders were “cold-blooded” and “premeditated”.
He said that Mahek Bukhari was “utterly self-obsessed” and that her “tawdry fame” as a TikTok influencer had led her to believe that she was above the law.
He said that Ansreen Bukhari had been “turned” by the “perceived glamour” of the influencer world and that she had been “blinded by her own desires”.
The judge said that the two women would have to spend the rest of their lives in prison for their “horrific crimes”.
The other six defendants in the case were also sentenced to life imprisonment.
Rekhan Karwan, 29, and Raees Jamal, 23, were both sentenced to a minimum term of 31 years.
Natasha Akhtar, 23, was sentenced to a minimum term of 11 years and 8 months.
Ameer Jamal, 28, and Sanaf Gulamustafa, 23, were both sentenced to a minimum term of 14 years and 8 months.
The court heard that the six defendants had all played a “significant role” in the murders.
The judge said that the case was “a tragedy for all involved”.
He said that the two victims had been “young men with their whole lives ahead of them” and that their deaths had “left a trail of devastation”.
He said that the six defendants would have to live with the consequences of their actions for the rest of their lives.
