Man found guilty of murdering daughter-in-law

An "authoritarian" father accused of murdering his daughter-in-law six months after she flew to the UK to marry his son has been found guilty.

Mashal Ilyas, 24, was found unconscious at the bottom of the stairs of the family home on 9 October 2024, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Nadeem Mohammed Begum, 53, from Atherton, Wigan, told police and paramedics he had been asleep and had not seen or heard anything before he found his daughter-in-law collapsed.

However, Begum was found guilty of her murder at Manchester Crown Court earlier after forensic testing, CCTV and phone evidence linked him to the scene.

The court heard that Mashal Ilyas came to the UK following arrangements made by the two families but there were tensions in the family.

Through messages she sent to friends, it appeared that she was happy in her marriage but struggling with Begum as the authoritarian head of the family, her role in the household and the tasks she was expected to complete for the family.

Emergency services attended Begum's family home on Oxford Road in Atherton at 11.25 GMT.

They found Ms Ilyas at the bottom of the stairs in cardiac arrest, with multiple injuries on her face, her nose, her mouth and lips, as well as bruising to her arms, hands and body.

Begum told the police that he had come out of his bedroom and found his daughter-in-law at the bottom of the stairs.

However a post-mortem examination later confirmed that the cause of her death was asphyxiation and that pressure had been applied to the neck, nose and mouth.

She also had a broken fingernail and other marks suggestive of a struggle in addition to blood staining on her trousers.

Forensic testing confirmed the presence of Begum's DNA in the blood and swabs taken from under her fingernails matched Begum's DNA.

Police were able to establish a timeline of events as Ms Ilyas had been on the phone to her mother at 10:15 that morning.

A few minutes into the call, she asked her mother to wait while she emptied the washing machine. She did not return to the call.

The court heard that CCTV evidence showed that only Begum and Ms Ilyas were in the property at the time of her death.

Begum's claim that he had been asleep prior to finding his daughter-in-law was disproved by phone evidence showing his phone was active for most of the morning.

Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West Katie Marsden said: "Mashal Ilyas's life was cruelly cut short by Nadeem Begum.

"It is difficult to understand what drove Begum to take his daughter-in-law's life in such a brutal way.

"We may never fully understand the circumstances which led to her tragic death."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.