Uncle of man, 21, murdered by TikTok influencer and her mother reveals his nephew ‘wanted to be there for his friend because he was going through a hard time’ on the night they were both killed
- Mohammed Hashim was in ‘the wrong place at the wrong time’, his uncle said
The bereaved uncle of a man, 21, who was murdered by a TikTok influencer after being ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’ has said he was only driving the car that fateful night as he ‘wanted to be there for his friend because he was going through a hard time.’
Muhammed Hashim was killed in a 100mph fireball crash alongside his friend Saqib Hussain, 21, after their Skoda was deliberately rammed off the A46 dual carriageway near Leicester by balaclava-wearing assailants in two pursuing cars on February 11 last year.
Their deaths were the murderous actions of YouTube and TikTok content creator Mahek Bukhari, 24, and her mother Ansreen, 46, who had hatched a plot to silence Mr Hussain after he threatened to expose his affair with the latter by leaking their sex tape.
Prosecutors said Mr Hussain had been ‘lured’ into meeting in Leicester with the Bukharis on the pretence of giving him back the £3,000 he said he had spent on taking his lover out during their tryst.
In an ensuing car chase, Mohammed’s Skoda Fabia was rammed off the road and ‘split in two’ after hitting a tree at the Six Hills junction in the early hours of February 11 last year.
Mohammed Hashim (pictured), 21, was in ‘the wrong place at the wrong time’
Saqib Hussain (pictured), 21, was also killed in the shocking incident last year
Ansreen Bukhari, 46, and her influencer daughter Mahek Bukhari, 24, have both been convicted of murder
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain today, Ansar Hussain explained his nephew had been in the car as a favour to his friend
Speaking on Good Morning Britain this morning, Muhammed Hashim’s grieving uncle Ansar Hussain explained that in the year that has passed since his death, Muhammed’s family have tried to piece together the circumstances of his death.
He explained: ‘We didn’t know a lot when the tragic news came to us but after we sat through two trials we got to know a lot about what happened that night.
READ MORE: Moment killer TikToker, 24, lied to police that she’d hatched plot to murder her 45-year-old mother’s lover, 21, after he threatened to expose the affair by leaking a sex tape
‘One of my sons told me a few days ago that they asked him why he had become so close to this friend in the last few months and he said: “He’s sad, he’s going through some difficulties, I want to be there for him.”
‘Hashim never used to enjoy driving himself, even that night, what he was doing just hanging about he told his friend, can you give Saqib a lift?
‘When he couldn’t get his friend a lift, that’s when he went home to pick up his dad’s car and gave him a lift.’
Reflecting on his nephew’s life, Mr Hussain said he was an ‘active soul’ who wanted to spread joy.
He said: ‘Muhammed Hashim, his personality was very different in our times. He was someone who lived 60 or 70 years of life in 21 years.
‘He was a very active soul. One of his philosophies was if I can make them laugh or smile, that’s my job done for the day.
‘He was compassionate about healing people. His type of healing was making people laugh.
‘What keeps us busy, especially the ones who have been hurt far more than even myself like his mother, is that even after 18 months we’re still discovering Hashim.’
Mahek Bukhari (left) and her mother Ansreen Bukhari (right) were found guilty of the murders of Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin in a high-speed car chase in February 2022
Mahek Bukhari, 24, was said to have taken part in the ‘ambush’ after Mr Hussain threatened to use sexually explicit material to expose a long-running affair he had with her 46-year-old mother Ansreen.
The 24-year-old was said to have ‘tolerated’ her mother’s affair with Hussain, but took action when he threatened to expose it
The scene of the wreckage of Mr Ijazuddin’s car on the A46 in February last year
Bukhari had boasted of more than 126,000 followers on TikTok and a further 43,000 on Instagram before her arrest.
She had regularly shared snippets of her life, including her outfits, make-up and handbags, and has also appeared in videos alongside her mother.
Jurors deliberated for more than 28 hours before returning a verdict finding Bukhari and her mother guilty of two counts of murder earlier this month.
They will be sentenced on September 1. Remanding them in custody, Judge Timothy Spencer warned them: ‘You know the sentence will be very serious.’
Bukhari dropped out of Manchester Metropolitan University to focus on making videos for TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, in which her mother regularly featured. In one, she admitted she was motivated by money and said her goal was to pay off her ‘whole family’s mortgages’.
Prosecutor Collingwood Thompson said the revelation of Ansreen’s affair could have ‘ended her marriage or damaged her reputation in the community’. He said the young woman was also afraid it could damage her social media career.
Their trial heard Bukhari was aware of her mother’s affair and was ‘happy to tolerate it, if not approve of it’. But when it ended in January 2022 Mr Hussain became ‘increasingly obsessive, proffering his love for her and begging her to continue the relationship’, jurors were told. On January 12, he threatened to send a ‘nude’ of Ansreen to her husband and demanded she repay money spent during the affair.
Bukhari’s idea was to lure Mr Hussain into a meeting where he would be forced to hand his phone over so images of Ansreen could be deleted. But the jury heard that when the two men arrived and saw both Mahek’s Audi TT and a Seat waiting, the pair quickly drove away.
Jurors were played a shocking 999 call Mr Hussain made from the passenger seat of a Skoda Fabia as they were chased up a 70mph dual carriageway – which ended with him screaming and the sound of a collision.
Baker Mr Hussain could be heard telling how the car was being rammed by a vehicle whose occupants wore balaclavas. He told the handler: ‘They are trying to ram me off the road… They are trying to kill me.’
Detective Inspector Mark Parish said the masterminds behind the ‘callous and cold-blooded attack’ continually told lies to cover their tracks, adding: ‘Their only concern during the whole incident and investigation has been for themselves.’
Mr Hussain’s family said they were ‘grateful the courts saw through all the lies attributed to my son’, while Mr Ijazuddin’s family said their ‘world came crashing down’ when he died.
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