Pregnant mother death: Man charged (From Braintree and Witham Times)

Pregnant mother death: Man charged

10:36pm Wednesday 9th May 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

A man has been charged with the murder of a pregnant young mother found stabbed to death in her own home.

Saiba Khatoon, 26, described by her family as the "best mum in the world", had excitedly told friends she was delighted to be expecting her second child.

But she was found suffering fatal stab injuries in her house in Kirkholt, Rochdale, just before midnight on Monday.

Officers were called to the crime scene in Darlington Road by paramedics who had been alerted after the woman's eight-year-old son ran to a neighbour's house to raise the alarm.

Siraj Arif, 31, of Armstrong Hurst Close, Smallbridge, Rochdale, has been charged with her murder, police said. He is due to appear at Bury Magistrates' Court.

Arif and Ms Khatoon are understood to have been in a relationship together.

A post-mortem examination concluded that Ms Khatoon died from multiple stab wounds.

In a tribute released through police, the victim's family said: "Saiba married in 2003 and her son was born in 2005. She was always smiling, was a very happy person and loved practising her faith. She was pregnant with her second child and was looking forward to becoming a mother again. She planned to name her baby after her sister who had passed away from illness some six years earlier.

"Saiba is much loved and will always be remembered by her friends and family. We have lost the best mum in the world, the best daughter, sister and friend a person could ever have.

"She was one of the kindest people you would ever wish to know and always went out of her way to help others. She did not deserve to die in such terrible circumstances. The world was a better place with you in it and we will miss you terribly. Until we meet again, my mother, my daughter, my sister, my friend, rest in peace."