The father of 10-year-old Sara Sharif admitted to killing his daughter during a phone call to Surrey Police from Pakistan, a court heard. Sara’s body was discovered at her home in Woking, Surrey, in August last year, leading to the arrest and charges against her father, Urfan Sharif, 42, her stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, and her uncle, Faisal Malik, 29. All three have pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.
During proceedings at the Old Bailey on Monday, prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC presented evidence that Sara had been subjected to violent assaults over an extended period. According to the prosecutor, Sara suffered dozens of injuries, both internal and external, including extensive bruising, burns, and broken bones, some of which were old and some more recent.
Mr Sharif, who fled to Pakistan with his family before Sara’s body was found, made a call to Surrey Police that lasted eight minutes and 34 seconds. In the call, he admitted to “legally punishing” his daughter, claiming that Sara had been naughty. He told the operator that his intention was not to kill her but that he had beaten her too severely. The prosecutor argued that Sara’s treatment in the final weeks of her life was “appalling and brutal.”
The jury heard that when police discovered Sara’s body, it was placed on a bottom bunkbed and covered, as if she were asleep. However, Mr Jones KC emphasised that Sara had been dead for some time before her body was found.
The prosecution contended that the abuse could not have occurred without the involvement or awareness of all three adults in the household. It was “inconceivable,” Mr Jones KC argued, that any of the defendants could have acted without the complicity and participation of the others. Furthermore, none of the defendants reported the abuse to any external agency, which could have intervened to protect Sara.
The case continues at the Old Bailey.