Man jailed for life for the murder of daughter-in-law

A man from Wigan has been handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 18-years in prison for the murder of his daughter-in-law.

Mashal Ilyas, 24, was killed by Nadeem Begum just six months after arriving in the UK following wedding arrangements made by the two families.

Begum (02/01/1972) told officers he had been asleep and had found Mashal unconscious at the bottom of the stairs of the family home at Oxford Road, Atherton, in October last year.

But the jury at Manchester Crown Court saw through his lies, convicting him of murder this week and today (16/5/25) he was jailed at the same court.

Our Major Incident Team began an investigation at around 11.40am on Wednesday 9 October 2024 after officers responded to reports of a concern for the welfare of a woman at an address on Oxford Road.

When officers arrived, Mashal was found collapsed at the bottom of the stairs and, sadly, despite the best efforts of emergency services, she was pronounced dead shortly after.

Enquiries revealed that from around 10am the only people in the house were Begum and Mashal.

At 10:13am, Mashal rang her mother in Pakistan but after a few minutes she went downstairs to put the washing out, leaving the phone on the bed.

Initially, Begum told officers that he had got up to go to the toilet and found Mashal at the bottom of the stairs. He suggested that Mashal must have fallen down the stairs while he was asleep.

His story was disproved by our investigation team as phone evidence showed his phone was active for most of the morning.

The death was referred for a Home Office post-mortem, which found Mashal had a number of injuries including bruising to her neck that were not consistent with a fall. Cause of death was given as asphyxiation.

CCTV from the address showed that all family members apart from Mashal and Begum had left the house shortly after 10am.

No-one else entered the address until Begum’s eldest son arrived home around 11:30am and called the emergency services.

Forensic examination of Mashal’s trousers identified two spots of Begum’s blood and his DNA was also recovered under her fingernails. Begum was subsequently charged with Mashal’s murder.

The court heard during the trial that there were tensions in the family, particularly between Mashal and Begum and his views on her role within the household, which could have been the reason for the attack.

Duncan Thorpe, Senior Investigating Officer from our Major Incident Support Unit, said: “Firstly, our thoughts as an investigation team are still with Mashal’s loved ones at what is a very emotional and difficult time for them.

“Since we became aware of the incident, we explored all available lines of investigation to get to the truth - that Nadeem Begum had attacked and strangled Mashal.

“This was a brutal and unprovoked attack on a young woman who had come to the UK to start a new life.

“Begum now has to face the consequences; we are pleased we have been able to bring justice and some form of closure for the family.”

Mashal's mother Rehana said her daughter was a 'young woman who had her whole life in front of her'.

She said: "She was kind to herself and others. She was happy and loved within the family.

"She was everything for me. She was my friend. She used to share everything with me.

"She is remembered by everyone in the family. She was so polite and caring.

"She was clever. She was very good academically. She was always top in her class at the school. Her teachers still remember her.

"As I sit and think about Mashal, I wonder how she would have grown as a woman and a mother and who she would have become, the children she would have had, the memories she would have made, the challenges she would have overcome and the joy and happiness that would have filled her life.

"But I will never have that chance to see this because Nadeem Begum took that away from her in one senseless moment."

Nadeem Begum has been been handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 18-years in prison for murder