Fatal Attraction, starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, is a groundbreaking film in the female stalker subgenre of erotic thrillers. It was considered a pop culture phenomenon, albeit a bit far-fetched.
But that view could change when the ITV documentary, The Real Fatal Attraction, airs on Wednesday, as it bears a striking resemblance to the 1987 thriller.
It tells the story of scorned lawyer Anisah Ahmed, who embarks on an elaborate revenge plot against her lover, Iqbal Mohammed, 41, after discovering he is married.
The 37-year-old falsely claimed she had been raped and staged her own kidnapping and stabbing in a “malicious” campaign of lies against Mr Mohammed to destroy his life and reputation.
Ahmed became the first person to receive a life sentence for perverting the course of justice in April 2021, but her sentence was overturned seven months later by the Court of Appeal, which changed her prison sentence to ten years.
Now in a devastating blow for her victim, Ahmed, from Oxford, has been released from prison after spending less than four years in prison. She is under a house arrest curfew, which means she must wear an electronic tag and is limited to the times she can leave the house.
Reflecting on the case, Mr Mohammed told The Sun: ‘My biggest worry was that she would stab me or my wife.’
Anisah Ahmed (pictured), 37, was given a life sentence after staging her own kidnapping, rape and stabbing. Later the sentence was reduced to ten years, but she was released after four years
CCTV footage of Iqbal Mohammed (pictured) being interviewed by police after Ahmed made allegations
Ahmed is in an ambulance after stabbing herself in the leg in an attempt to frame her former lover
Blood on the car seat as Ahmed stabbed himself in the leg in an attempt to frame Mr Mohammed
The lawyer, who specializes in commercial law, said it became “instinct” to look around outside his home to make sure Ahmed was not “lurking” as he went to work.
According to The Sun, Mr Mohammed and his wife changed cars, moved houses and changed their daily routines to protect themselves.
In the film, Close’s character Alex stalks and terrorizes lawyer Dan Gallagher, played by Douglas, as she tries to ruin his marriage and have him all to herself.
“I rewatched the movie after all this happened and I thought it was too real, too close to home. I knew that obsessive, psychotic behavior,” Mohammed told The Sun.
It is understood Ahmed first contacted Mr Mohammed after seeing him in the 2008 BBC docuseries The Barristers.
She sent him her resume and asked for career advice via email and LinkedIn, but their relationship turned flirtatious in 2013.
Ahmed and Mr Mohammed, who is still with his wife, began a nine-month relationship in 2014, a court previously heard.
Ahmed claims she did not know Iqbal was married at the time. The lawyer married his wife in December 2013.
When Ahmed discovered that Mr Mohammed was married, she contacted his wife on social media and told her about the affair.
She also sent intimate messages about their affair to his colleagues, before emailing his head of chamber demanding an investigation into his integrity.
Ahmed’s actions then took a sinister turn when she sent fake emails from his work account claiming that Mr Mohammed was harassing her and that he was threatening to post intimate photos of her online.
Mr Mohammed told The Sun he was ‘afraid’ of Ahmed because her ‘agenda was pure revenge’.
After her initial plan failed, Ahmed went a step further by falsely accusing Mr Mohammed of raping her several times, providing detailed and convincing statements to investigators.
In June 2015, Mr Mohammed was arrested in his room and spent seven hours in a police cell.
Iqbal Mohammed (pictured) 41, was framed by his former lover Anisah Ahmed after she discovered he was married
Glenn Close and Michael Douglas star in the 1987 erotic thriller Fatal Attraction
Mr Mohammed said ‘it was really traumatic to be in that cell’ and admitted he ‘wanted to die’ because he thought people would believe Ahmed.
In a last-ditch attempt to ensnare her ex-lover, Ahmed then staged her own kidnapping and stabbing – enlisting an ex-boyfriend as an accomplice – who admitted to police that she had ordered him to kill her three times. to cut with a knife.
When he refused, fearing he might accidentally kill her, Ahmed allegedly stabbed herself, nearly severing her femoral artery with a horrific injury to her thigh.
She told police that Mohammed had ordered the attack on her, and later produced a false confession from an imaginary assassin.
Ahmed was convicted in April 2021 after pleading guilty to perversity and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Sentencing him, Judge Michael Gledhill said: ‘This case clearly involved very careful planning to destroy the victim’s personal and professional life. The lengths you went to to take revenge on Mr Mohammed were almost unbelievable.
Reflecting on the case, Mr Mohammed told The Sun: ‘My biggest concern was that she would stab me or my wife’
“Your actions, Ms. Ahmed, were malicious, malicious even. You remained loyal to them for an extended period of time and recruited Hussein and others to help you.
“False accusations can have terrible consequences for an innocent person who has committed no crime. Being wrongly accused of harassment is serious enough.
“But accusing him of rape is in a completely different category.”
Judge Gledhill added: ‘As a lawyer, Ahmed was acutely aware of the seriousness of what she had done and the possible consequences for herself. To avoid such consequences, her strategy took an even more sinister turn.
‘She has once again attempted to accuse Mr Mohammed of a serious criminal offence. She said he raped her several times. Her complaint was detailed and convincing, even if completely false.
“Her goal was twofold: revenge and to divert police attention away from herself and back to Mr. Mohammed. In the short term it worked. Mr Mohammed was arrested again and interviewed.
‘The effect on Mr Mohammed can hardly be overestimated. He saw his career, livelihood and family life fall apart before his eyes, he even thought about committing suicide.”
The Real Fatal Attraction is an ITV documentary series that analyzes Ahmed’s criminal scheme.
The series airs on ITV1 on Wednesdays at 9pm, but can then be streamed on ITV X.