Man tells murder trial of moment he heard his wife was dead

Nadeem Begum, 54, denies the murder of his daughter-in-law Mashal Ilyas

A man has told a court of the moment he was informed that his wife was dead.

Nadeem Muhammed Begum, 54, is accused of attacking his son’s wife, Mashal Ilyas, at their home in Atherton on October 9 last year. Jurors heard there had been issues between them due to Mr Begum’s ‘traditional’ views on his daughter-in-law’s role in the house.

Ms Ilyas, 24, was found unresponsive at the bottom of the stairs with injuries to her neck. A post mortem report later revealed that she had been subjected to asphyxiation.

Mr Begum denies murder and is on trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Giving evidence her husband, and son of Mr Begum, Gulrez Nadeem, said the morning of her death, they had both woken up and prayed together before he went to work.

He said she was quiet, and he asked if she was OK. She replied that she was ‘just tired’. Mr Nadeem said his brother, Danish, then gave him a lift to work at an Amazon warehouse.

Mr Nadeem said he later sent her a message to say ‘good morning’ but she replied with a short message which was ‘a bit weird’.

He told jurors: “Then her mum contacted me saying she was not replying to her. She was on a call with her, and had left her on the phone for about 18 minutes.

“She said she was on the call with her, and said she needed to go downstairs and do something. She was waiting for 18 minutes. And she didn’t come back.

“I started calling her and she didn’t answer the call. I called her about three or four times but she didn’t answer. I called my sister in law then called my mum, anyone who would be in the house. I sent a message to my sister asking if she was at home.

“I kept calling to try and find out if she could answer the call. I then got a call from the police saying my wife had passed away.”

He said he ‘got angry’ adding: “How could that be if she was on the phone, then suddenly I got that call? I just left my work and my brother Danish picked me up.

“There was a police officer outside the door. He asked me if I was related to Mashal and I said she was my wife. I tried to see her.”

He said he overheard his dad saying he was sleeping, then got up to ‘pee’ and saw she was on the stairs. He said he went to her and she wasn’t moving. He said he started to rub her hands and then called his brother to come as he ‘didn’t know the number to call an ambulance’.

Mr Nadeem went on to describe an argument that had developed between himself and his father after Ms Ilyas had asked for a family friend to come and stay over. His mother had said yes, but his dad had said no, he said.

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He said he was at work when he received a call from his brother telling him to come home as there was an ‘emergency’.

“I went to see Mashal first. She was upset. She was crying. She was not saying anything. I kept asking her what happened, she didn’t say anything to me. She was just crying,” he told the court.

Ms Ilyas then said ‘uncle’ - a nickname she would call his dad, he said.

“I had not seen her like this before, never. It was going on for about 45 minutes to an hour. I got angry and shouted at my dad.

“I didn’t know what had happened. I was shouting and swearing at him. I was very worried about her. It was later on she told me that it was about her friend not being able to come round.

“She said they started arguing and she got very scared as it was not normal for her family to argue. In our family it was quite normal. She got scared and started crying.”

He said he later apologised to his dad, but his dad ignored his wife up until her death.

“I said to him the next time this happens again, I would move out because it was too much,” he added.

Also giving evidence, Danish Nadeem said his dad had called him on October 9 to say something was ‘wrong’ and to ‘just come home’.

“I went home, I got there and Mashal was lying down on the stairs. He [Mr Begum] told me he was sleeping, then went to the toilet and saw her on the stairs,” he said.

Mr Begum, of Oxford Road, Atherton, denies murder.