Sharaban found a woman who looked just like her on Instagram. Then she allegedly murdered her.

When police found a young woman's body in a car last year, reports initially pointed to one name. 

The woman, who was found in a parked Mercedes in Ingolstadt, southern Germany, in August, had suffered 50 stab wounds to her face, rendering her nearly unrecognisable. 

Family members were later able to identify the body as 23-year-old German-Iraqi beautician Sharaban K*, who had been reported missing by her family.

However, an autopsy report the next day raised "massive doubts".

Instead, the body was later found to belong to another 23-year-old woman who "looked strikingly similar" to Sharaban - a woman named Khadidja O (pictured above).

Khadidja, who has over 5,000 followers on TikTok, was an Algerian beauty blogger who lived in a neighbouring state in Germany. 

Sharaban (whose photo has not been shared online) was later tracked down and arrested along with her friend Sheqir K. 

Last month, she was charged with murder.

"You don’t get a case like this every day, especially with such a spectacular twist," police spokesperson, Andreas Aichele, told the tabloid Bild.

"On the day we found the body there was nothing to prepare us for this development."

Khadidja O. Image: TikTok@khadija2299

According to prosecutors, Sharaban had trawled Instagram for a woman who looked like her in order to fake her own death.

"Investigations have led us to assume that the accused wanted to go into hiding because of a family dispute and fake her own death to that effect," said Veronika Grieser of the Ingolstadt state prosecutor’s office, as per The Guardian. 

Police said Sharaban had contacted several women who looked similar to her on social media under numerous aliases.

"By making various promises she tried to bring about meetings, which was initially unsuccessful," said Grieser.

A police official told The Sun, Sharaban had reportedly been planning the murder -  which German media is referring to as the 'doppelganger murder' - for "several weeks". 

According to German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Khadidja agreed to meet up with Sharaban after being lured by a cosmetics offer.

Sharaban and her friend Sheqir then allegedly picked up Khadidja from her apartment on the day of the murder, before driving to a stretch of woodland between Heilbronn and Ingolstadt, The Guardian reports. 

Once there, the pair allegedly made up a pretext for Khadidja to step out of the car and stabbed her to death. 

"The crime weapon has not been found, but the evidence is overwhelming," said Aichele.

Prosecutors claim the friends then drove to Ingolstadt and parked the car in a quiet residential area by the banks of the Danube river, where it was initially discovered by Sharaban's parents.

Sharaban and Sheqir, who has been charged as an accomplice, could face life sentences if they are convicted. 

*In Germany, suspects and victims of crimes are typically identified by a first name and initial.

Feature Image: TikTok@khadija2299