Man who strangled son’s wife to death found GUILTY of murder

Nadeem Begum will be sentenced at a later date

A man has been found guilty of strangling his daughter-in-law to death amid tensions over her 'role' in the family.

Mashal Ilyas, 24, moved into the family home in Atherton in March last year after she married Gulrez Nadeem by way of arranged marriage.

Issues quickly arose between Ms Ilyas and Nadeem Begum, 53, due to his ‘traditional’ views on her role within the household.

On October 9, Ms Ilyas was found unconscious at the bottom of the stairs with injuries to her neck. A post mortem report later revealed that she had been subjected to asphyxiation.

Begum claimed he had been asleep at the time, and had not heard anything until he found her. He then called his other son, Danish Nadeem, telling jurors he did not know the number for an ambulance.

Today, May 13, jurors at his murder trial at Manchester Crown Court found him guilty. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Jurors heard that Ms Ilyas came from a ‘liberal’ family in Pakistan and went on to marry Gulrez in January last year in Pakistan.

After moving to the UK, she lived with the rest of the family in a three-bedroom semi-detached house on Oxford Road.

“It would appear they were very happy together and messages sent to her friends and family back in Pakistan showed how pleased she was with the marriage,” said prosecutor Mark Rhind KC.

However, there were ‘tensions’ between Ms Ilyas and Begum around her role in the household, with expectation that she was meant to cook and clean for the whole family, rather than just her husband.

Mr Rhind continued: “Her messages showed the defendant took a very traditional role as the authoritarian of the family, that he felt like he was in charge of the family - and his daughter-in-law.

“That meant her role was to cook and clean not just for her husband, but for the wider family and their children. It is clear that Mashal had been used to a far more liberal family life and struggled to accept her new reality.”

The court was told that there were ‘arguments and upsets’ and she had described her living arrangements to her mother as ‘intolerable’ and a ‘toxic environment’.

There came a point when Begum stopped speaking to Ms Ilyas after an argument about her inviting a family member to stay over. Gulrez, was said to have become involved, telling his dad that the couple would move out of the family home if he spoke to her that way again.

On October 9, 2024, the other family members, including Gulrez, had left the house to go to work leaving Ms Ilyas alone with Begum.

She had called her mum at 10.15am, and was on the phone for around five minutes before telling her she needed to tend to the washing machine. She left her phone on her bed, with her mum waiting on the call. It was the last time she was heard alive.

Begum called his son Danish, who in turn called the emergency services.

Ms Ilyas was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. A post mortem report later revealed bruising to the neck, face, bruising to her arm, a broken finger nail and blood on the surface of the brain.

Her cause of death was recorded as pressure to the neck and upper airway obstruction.

Prosecutors alleged that Ms Ilyas ‘fought for her life’ during the attack.

“She had injured Mr Begum, which was evident days later when he was arrested and examined by police, who found a healing scab at the front of his neck,” said the prosecutor. Swabs taken from under Mashal’s fingernails matched Begum’s DNA and when he was arrested.

Later when his phone was seized and analysed, it revealed that Begum had been using TikTok at 7.45am and later at 9.15am. Mr Rhind told jurors: “The defendant stayed in the house with the body, waiting for his son to come home.

“He did nothing to help her, not trying CPR, not doing anything to get help for her. He did little or nothing.”

Giving evidence, Begum described that after his son’s wedding, family members would come and visit to pay good wishes to the newlyweds as part of Walima. During this time he said Ms Ilyas said she didn’t have anybody she would like to invite from her side of the family, but later asked if her aunt could come and visit.

The defendant said he was ‘surprised’ and had asked ‘where has this person come from’, but denied shouting at her.

On the day in question, he said he woke up at around 6am and went on his phone on TikTok. He told the court that Ms Ilyas served him breakfast at around 7.30am before he went back to his room.

He denied seeing her for the rest of the morning until he found her at the bottom of the stairs at around 11am.

“When I found her I reached over and shook her and said ‘Mashal, Mashal’ and started rubbing her hand. I thought her blood pressure had dropped and thought rubbing her hand would bring her back to normal,” he said.

But jurors saw through his lies and convicted him of murder. Begum, of Oxford Road, will be sentenced at a later date when he will be handed life imprisonment.