‘TikTok: Murder Gone Viral’ begins tonight on ITV1 and STV.
The three-episode true-crime series explores three tragic murder cases, which each went viral on the world’s fastest-growing social media app TikTok.
In the first edition, the programme looks back to the early hours of February 11, 2022 two 21-year-old men, Saqib Hussain and Hashim Ijazuddin, were found dead in a burning car on the A46 in Leicestershire. Shortly afterwards police arrested two unlikely culprits – 22-year-old TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari and her 45-year-old mother Ansreen.
Det Con Gemma Ashmore, an officer in the case, describes the scene officers found when they discovered the burning wreck: “Our first line is to preserve life, but unfortunately we couldn’t do that on this occasion. So then we’re looking at victim identification.”
Mahek, from Stoke-on-Trent, had more than 160,000 followers on TikTok and many millions of views, while her mum Ansreen regularly appeared in her videos. Detectives discovered Ansreen had been in a three-year-long secret relationship with Saqib Hussain, which began when he was just 18.
When she wanted to end the relationship in January 2022, Saqib threatened to send nude photos and sex tapes to her husband.
Fearing for her parents’ marriage, their standing in the Muslim community and the possible impact on her social media career, Mahek hatched a plan to silence him, enlisting several others – including two of her social media followers. Mahek and Ansreen’s plot culminated in an abandoned meeting before a car chase along the A46 in which Hashim and Saqib’s car was rammed off the road.
In a 999 call shortly after the abandoned meeting, Saqib is heard saying: “They hit into the back of the car very fast. They’re trying to ram us off the road. Please, I’m begging you, I think I’m going to die, I think I’m going to die.”
When interviewed, Mahek showed very little guilt for their deaths, says senior investigating officer Det Insp Mark Parish: “The only time I notice any remorse is when Mahek hears the 999 call being played to her. But I’m not sure that’s remorse at the call. I think it’s more to do with the fact that she recognises how serious a position she is in.”
In September last year, Mahek Bukhari was sentenced to life in prison to serve a minimum of 31 years and eight months, and Ansreen Bukhari received a life sentence, with a minimum term of 26 years and nine months. Mark Parish says: “If it wasn’t for social media, I do believe that Saqib and Hashim would be alive today.”
TikTok: Murder Gone Viral, ITV1 and STV tonight at 9pm
