"I asked what was wrong but he wouldn't tell me."
A court heard that a 21-year-old was “head over heels in love” with the mother of TikTok influencer Mahek Bukhari but her husband had “no idea” about their alleged three-year affair.
Saqib Hussain was killed when the Skoda Fabia being driven by Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin was rammed off the A46 in Leicester.
The car smashed through the central reservation and into a tree, splitting into two and bursting into flames, killing both men instantly.
Mahek and her mother Ansreen are currently on trial with six others.
They are accused of murdering the two men in a bid to silence Mr Hussain. They all deny the charges.
Leicester Crown Court previously heard that after their affair ended, Mr Hussain had threatened to leak explicit videos of him and Ansreen unless she paid him £2,000.
Prosecutors say Mahek requested help to arrange an ambush in order to steal Mr Hussain’s phone to stop his threats.
A meeting was arranged but Mr Hussain and Mr Ijazuddin “sensed a plot” and fled. Mr Hussain made a 999 call as two cars boxed them in and tried to ram them off the road.
During the trial, it was heard that Mr Hussain told friends he met Ansreen on a dating app.
In a statement, his sister described how he was “head over heels” in love with Ansreen and was “always buying her stuff”. She said Saqib was “heartbroken” when the relationship ended.
She recalled meeting Ansreen once outside a hotel.
She also revealed that she advised her brother not to be in a relationship with a married woman.
She even told Mr Hussain that he was taking a risk by going to get the money, asking him: “Are you stupid?”
She also warned someone might “rush” him.
The day before Mr Hussain’s death, she said their father, who knew about the affair, had texted her and asked her to speak to her brother, who had been sulking for two days.
Describing her last conversation with her brother, she said:
“I went to speak to Saqib in his bedroom. I asked what was wrong but he wouldn’t tell me.
“He asked me to leave. I said, ‘We are close and tell each other everything’. But he just said ‘no’ and asked me to leave his room.”
A statement from Ansreen’s husband, Ali Raza, was also read to the court.
He told police he was unaware of his wife’s affair but he recalled someone with the name Saqib contacting him on social media.
Mr Raza said: “I do recall that about four or five months ago I received a message on my TikTok account.
“Someone put a comment that said something about my wife having an affair.”
“I never told my wife about it – I assumed it was just nonsense. I think ‘Saqib’ was the name or part of the name of the account.”
Mr Raza noticed that the user had no followers, leading to him believing it was a fake account.
In addition to Mahek and Ansreen Bukhari, the six co-defendants are:
- Mohammed Patel, aged 20, of Leicester
- Natasha Akhtar, aged 21, of Birmingham
- Raees Jamal, aged 21, of Loughborough
- Rekan Karwan, aged 28, of Leicester
- Sanaf Gulammustafa, aged 22, of Leicester
- Ameer Jamal, aged 27, of Leicester
The trial continues.
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