British TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari, 25, and her married mother, Ansreen Bukhari, 46, orchestrated the killing of Ansreen’s younger boyfriend in 2022 and were convicted to life in prison. Now, years later, they are still trying to have their sentences revised.
Mahek made a career for herself posting lifestyle and fashion content. Over the few years she had been active on the app, she grew into a micro-celebrity, earning significant money through advertising, endorsements, and collaborations. According to the BBC, the judge in their case said that Mahek’s fame had made her “entirely self-obsessed,” and before long, Ansreen too became drawn to the glamour of celebrity.
Ansreen became romantically involved with 21-year-old Saqib Hussain, but the relationship soured and ended acrimoniously. Social media stars have often found themselves in legal trouble or overstepping boundaries, especially when trying to protect their image — and it was no different with Ansreen, who agreed to meet Hussain to “refund” the £3,000 he had spent on her during their short-lived affair after he threatened to leak explicit photos of her.
The mother and daughter then hatched a plan to seize the phone that allegedly contained the explicit photos. Mother–child murder plots have happened before, but in their case, it seems the original plan wasn’t to kill Saqib.
Ansreen and Mahek hired masked men to ambush Saqib when he came to collect his money. But Saqib arrived with a friend, 21-year-old Hashim Ijazuddin, and the two quickly realized they were being set up. They tried to flee in their car, sparking a high-speed chase down the highway. Saqib managed to call the police, but moments later, their vehicle hit a tree and burst into flames. The hired attackers didn’t call for help and instead left the two men to burn in the wreck. The judge ruled that everyone involved, regardless of their specific role, was partially culpable for the tragedy that befell Saqib. The final nail in the coffin for the accused came when prosecutors played Saqib’s desperate call to the police in court — a recording the judge described as “one of the most moving and distressing pieces of evidence ever heard in a criminal court.”
During sentencing, the judge told Ansreen, “You are the grown-up in this group and you should have behaved as the grown-up, but you allowed your understandable concern about exposure to strip you of any rational judgment.” The mother–daughter duo were subsequently sentenced to life in prison.
But according to People, over the past two years, they have been appealing to have their sentences reduced, calling them excessive since they were not in the car that caused the deaths and had not directly planned the killings. On Oct. 24, Lady Justice Warby reduced Ansreen’s sentence to a minimum of 26 years and confirmed that all others convicted in the case would also have their sentences reduced.
However, everyone involved will still serve at least a decade behind bars. The judge added with finality, “It seems to us indisputable that the car chase carried a high risk of death or really serious harm, and that this should have been obvious to all those in each car.”
