Mahek Bukhari: who is TikTok star in court charged with murder of two men - what happened?

A TikTok influencer is alleged to have murdered two men after one of them had an affair with her mother and threatened to blackmail her with revenge porn, a court has been told.

Mahek Bukhari, who is known on TikTok as maybvlogs allegedly “set a trap” to stop 21-year-old Saqib Hussain from releasing the videos, stating she would get Hussain “jumped by guys” and that “he won’t know what day it is.”

Hussain and his friend Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin died after the Skoda they were driving crashed into a tree, according to prosecutors their vehicle was “virtually split in two”.

So who is Mahek Bukhari and what has she been charged with? Here’s everything you need to know.

Who is Mahek Bukhari?

Before her arrest, 23-year-old Bukhari had amassed more than 126,000 followers on TikTok and 43,000 on Instagram. The influencer gave fans an insight into her life showcasing her fashion style, make-up and jewellery. She also appeared in videos alongside her mother, Ansreen Bukhari, including one TikTok video which was titled “having an elite relationship with your mum.”

What is she charged with?

Mehek is charged with two counts of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter alongside her mother and 22-year-old friend Natasha Akhtar who owned one of the cars involved.

It’s alleged that she “set a trap” to prevent Hussain from sharing revenge porn of her mother after she broke off their affair, which led to his car being rammed off the road, killing him and his passenger, Ijazuddin.

Reported by the Daily Mail, the pair had become involved in 2019. Collingwood Thompson KC confirmed that the relationship began as a “bit of fun” and that data uncovered by detectives had shown Hussain had contacted Ansreen 1,702 times between 10 August 2021 and 9 February 2022.

Thompson KC told jurors that when Ansreen ended the affair Hussain “could not accept the decision she had made”. Adding: “It led to an attempt to blackmail Ansreen in order to persuade her to contact him. He threatened to send sexually explicit material to her husband and to her son unless she agreed to speak to him.”

In response Mahek is reported to have messaged her mother reassuring her: “I’ll soon get him jumped by guys and he wont know what day it is.”

They appeared in court alongside 28-year-old Rekan Karwan from Leicester, 22-year-old Raees Jamal of Loughborough, 22-year-old Sanaf Gulammustafa, 27-year-old Ameer Jamal and 20-year-old Mohammed Patel from Leicester.

They deny two charges of murder and two alternative charges of manslaughter.

What has the prosecution said?

Hussain and his 21-year-old passenger Ijazuddin who he had been friends with since childhood, made a desperate 999 call to police claiming their Skoda Fabia was being “blocked in” and rammed by attackers who were wearing balaclavas.

In a recording of the call, reported by Sky News, Hussain tells the call handler: “They’re trying to ram us off the road. Please, I’m begging you, I’m going to die,” before screaming “Oh my God” and the call ended. Police footage of the scene shows the car in flames on the A46 dual carriageway, by the Six Hills junction near Leicester.

Thompson KC said the 999 call showed that the car crash: “was not simply a tragic road traffic accident but a deliberate murder”.