A man who stabbed his mother-in-law to death in her own home after his arranged marriage with her daughter failed was today found guilty of murder.

Muhammad Tafham, 31, knifed Rahman Begum, 46, after she helped her daughter run away to live with her long-term boyfriend.

Mrs Begum tricked the defendant into leaving their home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, while his wife Aysha packed her belongings to move to Bradford, West Yorkshire.

She had told her daughter ‘don't ruin your life, go live it’ when she saw the marriage wasn't working.

Forensics officers are pictured at the scene in Rochdale where Tafham stabbed his own mother-in-law

One day later the mother-of-five was found on her kitchen floor with three stab wounds to the chest and a knife in her hand.

Jurors at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester were shown footage from street cameras of Tafham entering and leaving the Mrs Begum's property on February 6, the day of her death.

The Begums also had their own CCTV cameras outside the house which captured Tafham entering - but they were switched off from inside the property and did not capture him leaving.

Tafham denied murder and instead claimed that Mrs Begum had stabbed herself due to depression.

He admitted that he was present at her property at the time of her death but insisted he was sat in the living room watching a family DVD.

The killer said that he thought of her ‘like a mother’ and that he did not blame her for his marriage break-up.

But a jury deliberated for just over three hours to find him guilty of murder by a unanimous verdict today.

After stabbing her to death, Tafham left his mother-in-law to bleed and fled the scene without alerting the emergency services.

Tafham will be sentenced tomorrow after stabbing his mother-in-law to death in this street following the failure of his marriage

When police arrested him, he was found with his passport on him and it is believed he was planning on travelling back to Pakistan.

After moving from the country in September 2016, Tafham married Aysha, who became the sponsor for his visa – meaning they had to live together for three years for him to stay in the country.

Aysha continued seeing her long-term boyfriend - a man named Malik from Bradford - despite entering into an arranged marriage with the defendant.

His wife eventually moved back to live with him in Rochdale, but they argued constantly and she asked him for a divorce, which he refused.

Following months of arguments, Aysha decided enough was enough and with the help of her mother, left her husband to move back to her lover in Bradford.

A few days before Mrs Begum's death there was another incident involving a knife when an argument broke out between the defendant and his wife.

The defendant went into the kitchen and fetched a large knife and threw it onto the sofa where Aysha was sitting. He said that she had ruined his life and that he was ‘better off dead’.

At the opening of the trial, Prosecutor Andrew Thomas said: 'The prosecution say that the defendant took his anger out on his mother-in-law and attacked her in her own kitchen.

'He then placed the knife in her hand to make it look like suicide and he fled - hoping no-one would know that he had ever been there.'

Following an examination of the house, forensic scientist Pamela Bower found blood stains in the kitchen, including splatters on the kitchen roll and dishes in the drying rack.

She also said how a small amount of blood was found on the back and underside of the hot tap handle, with DNA inside matching to Tafham.

Blood was found inside the toilet roll in their house next door, and on bedding in both bedrooms.

The victim was found with the knife in her hand and had several stab wounds to her body, as well as defensive wounds to her hands.

During the trial, the husband of Rahman Begum, Gulfraiz Sharif, told the court how he was unaware that his wife was taking medication for depression and said she was ‘happy’ at the time of her death.

Speaking of his wife, who was nicknamed Ruksana, he said: 'I was in Pakistan around the time of my wife's death.

'I spoke to Ruksana in the evening [the day before she died] as she takes our youngest daughter to school and she had been to mosque. She was happy at the time. She didn’t say anything at all to me.

'My daughter picked up the phone as my wife was cooking. It was a video call. We were talking as usual. She said look after Asman, our son, and make sure he stays out of trouble.

'She never said she wanted to kill herself. Why would she kill herself, she never had any problems. She was very happy. It is not true that she had lots of stress at home. Mothers and fathers have stress with their children.

'She was fine, she had no problems with self-confidence. She was a housewife, she did house chores and she was happy.

'She was only suffering with diabetes, not depression. She used to be open to me, she used to tell me everything. She never mentioned any depression.'

The defendant showed no reaction in the dock as the jury delivered their conclusion. He will be sentenced tomorrow.