Prior to her arrest, Mahek Bukhari had developed a reputation as an online personality, frequently sharing make-up and lifestyle tips as well as fashion advice.
With nearly 130,000 followers on TikTok, 45,000 on Instagram and 3,900 subscribers to her YouTube channel, Mahek was beginning to create a name for herself beyond her immediate circle.
A scroll down her social media platforms reveals a fashion graduate with numerous friends, who spent her weekends partying in Manchester and dancing to 10-second music clips in her family bedroom.
Her 46-year-old mother, Ansreen Bukhari, regularly appears alongside her. In one video, the two women can be seen dancing with one another at their family home in Stoke-on-Trent.
Yet what appeared as a close family bond took a sinister turn in February 2022, in what became a “story of love, obsession, extortion and, ultimately – cold-blooded murder”.
Three years previously, Ansreen had begun a secret relationship with a younger man which only her daughter knew about.
Despite the affair starting as “a bit of fun”, Saqib Hussain quickly fell in love with the older woman and spent thousands of pounds wooing her.
However, Ansreen had been married for more than two decades and had no intention of leaving her husband.
By January 2022, she was attempting to end the relationship against her younger lover’s wishes, with Hussain becoming increasingly obsessive.
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