Who killed Sara Sharif? Schoolgirl's stepmother and uncle decline to give evidence
Urfan Sharif, 42, his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and brother Faisal Malik, 29, are accused of years-long abuse which culminated in Sara Sharif's death.
The stepmother and uncle of 10-year-old Sara Sharif have declined to give evidence at the trial for the schoolgirl's murder.
Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and brother Faisal Malik, 29, are accused of being party to years-long abuse which culminated in Sara's death last August.
Over two weeks in the witness box, Sara’s father, had blamed his wife for his daughter’s death before taking “full responsibility” for it on the seventh day.
Sara’s body was found in a bunk bed at the family home in Woking, Surrey, after Sharif called police on arrival in Islamabad, in Pakistan, the Old Bailey previously heard.
Sharif had left a note confessing to killing Sara on a pillow next to her body and told police in his call that he beat her up “too much”. The defendants were detained on a plane minutes after it touched down at Gatwick airport on 13 September last year.
Sara had suffered dozens of injuries, including multiple broken bones, burns, and human bite marks. Sharif admitted tying up the girl with packaging tape and hitting her with a cricket bat, metal pole and mobile phone, even whacking her in the stomach as she lay dying in Batool’s lap.
However, he denied biting her on the arm and thigh, burning her with a domestic iron and boiling water and putting her head in a hood as he meted out punishments for “naughty” behaviour.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC suggested all the defendants were involved in the violence against Sara, which had become “normalised” in the household. He said some of the abuse would have required two people, and that Sara had been forced to wear a nappy so she could be kept tied up for longer.
What happened in court today?
Lawyers for Batool and Malik indicated that neither would give evidence in their defence on Monday. Judge Mr Justice Cavanagh told jurors it meant that except for a few agreed facts, they would hear no more evidence in the case.
Sharif, Batool and Malik, formerly of Hammond Road, Woking, deny murder and causing or allowing Sara’s death.
The judge sent the jury away until Wednesday morning, saying he would give them directions in law before barristers began their closing speeches.
Sara Sharif: Key moments from the trial
Father denies Sara Sharif’s body jetwashed in garden as family prepared to flee (PA)
‘Inhuman’ violence dished out to Sara Sharif became ‘normalised’ by adults in her home, court told (The Independent)
Father of Sara Sharif ‘takes full responsibility’ for daughter’s death (The Telegraph)
Sara Sharif’s stepmother was victim of ‘honour-based abuse’, court told (PA Media)
Sara Sharif’s father was accused of abusing three girlfriends, court hears (The Guardian)
Sara Sharif’s father felt ‘world crushed’ as he held her lifeless body (PA Media)
Sara Sharif’s ‘evil’ stepmother tied her up with packing tape, father tells court (The Guardian)
Who was Sara Sharif?
Sara was born on 11 January, 2013 in Slough, Berkshire, to Polish mother Olga Domin and father Urfan Sharif, a taxi driver from Pakistan who had lived in the UK since 2001.
The pair had married in 2009, but separated in 2015 and later divorced.
Sara lived with her mother initially, but after Sharif was handed custody in 2019 she moved in with him, his new wife Beinash Batool and Sharif’s brother Malik.
Sara’s teacher, Helen Simmons reported she was a “happy child” who could also be “sassy”.
In June 2022 her school noted she had a bruise under her left eye and in March 2023 it reported she had a bruise on her chin and a dark mark on her right eye.
The trial into her death has heard she began to wear a hijab to school from in January 2023, which was considered unusual as "she had never worn one before and neither did anyone else in the family”.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC speculated: “The fact that Sara began to wear the hijab at around this time is indicative of the need to conceal injuries to her face and head from the outside world.”
Chloe Redwin, a neighbour of the family, noted that when she complimented Sara’s headscarf, Batool shut down the conversation “in quite an aggressive way”.
Timeline of events
2019
Sara’s father Urfan Sharif granted custody of his daughter, who moves in with him, his wife and his brother
2022
June
Sara’s school notes she had a bruise under her left eye
2023
January
Sara begins to wear a hijab
March
Sara’s school notes she had a bruise on her chin and a dark mark on her right eye
9 August
Urfan Sharif, his partner Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik travel to Islamabad, Pakistan.
10 August
The body of Sara Sharif, 10, is found at the family's home in Woking, Surrey. A murder investigation is launched.
15 August
A post-mortem examination shows Sara suffered “multiple and extensive” injuries likely to have been caused over a “sustained and extended” period of time.
18 August
Surrey Police say they would like to speak to Sharif, Batool and Malik in relation to the investigation.
20 August
Surrey County Council confirms Sara was known to the local authority.
29 August
An inquest into Sara’s death is opened at Surrey Coroner’s Court and hears the precise cause of her death is “not yet ascertained”.
13 September
Sharif, Batool and Malik land in the UK at Gatwick Airport on a flight from Pakistan via Dubai, and are arrested on suspicion of murder.
15 September
Surrey Police says the trio have been charged with Sara's murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.
14 December
The trio plead not guilty to murder and causing or allowing the death of a child and are remanded into custody.
2024
14 October
Trial at the Old Bailey, in London, begins and hears Sara was “beaten” and suffered what were “probably human bite marks” before she died.
15 October
Jurors told neighbours heard a “single high-pitched scream” of “someone in pain” just days before Sara died and that her father had told police he was “cruel” over the phone while apparently confessing to her killing.
16 October
Court hears Sara had suffered more than 70 injuries in the run up to her death.
17 October
Expert witnesses tell the Old Bailey Sara had been strangled so severely in the months before her death a bone in her neck was broken.
18 October
Court hears Sara had 25 unexplained fractures, likely caused by “multiple episodes of blunt force trauma inflicted over several weeks”.
23 October
Neighbours give evidence, recounting conversations about Sara’s hijab and incidents of “fever pitch” screaming from the family home.
24 October
A neighbour claims Sara “never smiled once” in the months before her death.
25 October
Jurors told neighbours heard a girl scream “in pain” just two days before Sara’s death.
31 October
Court heard Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool suggested the 10-year-old had a “jinn in her” which was responsible for her behaviour.
5 November
Sara’s father Urfan Sharif takes to the witness stand to begin his defence.
6 November
Urfan Sharif denied beating his daughter and instead claimed his wife was the “crazy” one in the house.
7 November
Urfan Sharif claims he caught his “psycho” wife tying Sara up with packing tape.
13 November
Urfan Sharif tells jurors he “takes full responsibility” for his daughter’s death. He later states he did not mean to kill her.
