Fatal Attraction, starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, is a seminal film in the subgenre of erotic thrillers about female stalkers. It was considered a pop culture phenomenon, albeit a bit far-fetched.
But that opinion could change when 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 plan against her lover, Iqbal Mohammed, 41, after discovering that he is married.
The 37-year-old woman falsely claimed she had been raped and organized her own kidnapping and stabbing in an “evil” campaign of lies against 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 his sentence was overturned by the Court of Appeal seven months later, which changed his prison sentence to 10 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. He is under a home detention curfew, which means he has to wear an electronic tag and has restrictions on the times he can leave the house.
Reflecting on the case, Mohammed told The Sun: “My biggest worry was that she was going to stab me or my wife.”
Anisah Ahmed (pictured), 37, was sentenced to life in prison after organizing her own kidnapping, rape and stabbing. It was later reduced to 10 years but she has been released after four.
CCTV footage of Iqbal Mohammed (pictured) being interviewed by police after Ahmed made allegations.
Ahmed sitting in an ambulance after stabbing herself in the leg in an attempt to frame her ex-lover.
Blood on car seat as Ahmed stabbed himself in the leg in attempt to frame Mr Mohammed
The lawyer, who specializes in commercial law, said it became an “instinct” to look around outside his house to make sure Ahmed was not “loitering” when he went to work.
According to The Sun, Mohammed and his wife changed cars, moved house and altered their daily routines to protect themselves.
In the film, Close’s character Alex stalks and terrorizes lawyer Dan Gallagher, played by Douglas, as she seeks to ruin his marriage and have him to herself.
“I watched the film again after all this happened and I found it too real, too close, I knew that obsessive, psychotic behaviour,” Mohammed told The Sun.
It is understood Ahmed first came into contact with Mohammed after watching him in the 2008 BBC documentary series The Barristers.
She sent him her CV and asked him for career advice via email and LinkedIn, but their relationship became flirtatious in 2013.
Ahmed and Mohammed, who is still with his wife, began a nine-month relationship with him in 2014, a court previously heard.
Ahmed claims that he did not know that Iqbal was married during that time. The lawyer married his wife in December 2013.
When Ahmed discovered that Mohammed was married, he contacted his wife on social media and told her about the affair.
He also sent intimate messages about his affair to his colleagues, before sending an email to his room manager demanding an investigation into his integrity.
Ahmed’s actions then took a more sinister turn when she sent fake emails from her work account and claimed that Mohammed was harassing her and threatening to post intimate photos of her online.
Mohammed told The Sun he was “scared” of Ahmed because his “agenda was pure revenge”.
After her initial plan failed, Ahmed took it a step further and falsely accused Mohammed of raping her on several occasions, giving detailed and convincing accounts to investigators.
In June 2015, Mohammed was arrested at his office and spent seven hours in a police cell.
Iqbal Mohammed (pictured), 41, was framed by his ex-lover Anisah Ahmed after she discovered he was married.
Glenn Close and Michael Douglas star in the 1987 erotic thriller Fatal Attraction
Mohammed said “it was really traumatic being in that cell” and admitted he “wanted to die” because he thought people would believe Ahmed.
In a final and desperate attempt to frame his ex-lover, Ahmed organized his own kidnapping and stabbing (binding an ex-boyfriend as an accomplice), who confessed to the police that he had ordered him to stab her three times.
When he refused, fearing he would accidentally kill her, Ahmed is believed to have stabbed herself, nearly severing his femoral artery with a horrific wound to his thigh.
She told police that Mr. Mohammed had ordered the attack on her, and then presented a falsified confession from an imaginary hitman.
Ahmed was sentenced in April 2021 after pleading guilty to perverting and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Sentencing, Judge Michael Gledhill said: “This case clearly involved very careful planning to destroy the victim’s personal and professional life.” The lengths to which he went to get revenge on Mr. Mohammed were almost incredible.
Reflecting on the case, Mohammed told The Sun: “My biggest worry was that she was going to stab me or my wife.”
‘Your actions, Mrs Ahmed, were malicious, even evil. You persisted with them for an extended period of time and recruited Hussain and others to help you.
‘False accusations can have terrible consequences for an innocent person who has not committed a crime. Being wrongly accused of harassment is pretty serious.
“But accusing him of rape belongs to another category.”
Judge Gledhill added: ‘As a solicitor, Ahmed was acutely aware of the seriousness of what she had done and the possible consequences for herself. To avoid such consequences, his strategy took an even more sinister turn.
“He made another attempt to frame Mr. Mohammed for a serious crime. She reported that he had raped her on several occasions. His complaint was detailed and convincing, although completely false.
“Her purpose was twofold: to get revenge and to divert police attention away from herself and toward Mr. Mohammed. In the short term it worked. Mr. Mohammed was again arrested and interviewed.
‘The effect on Mr Mohammed can hardly be underestimated. He watched his career, livelihood and family life crumble before his eyes, and even considered taking his own life.’
The Real Fatal Attraction is an ITV documentary series looking at Ahmed’s criminal scheme.
The series will air at 9pm on ITV1 on Wednesday, but will then be available to stream on ITV X.