UK convicts father and stepmother for murder of girl, 10, in ‘campaign of abuse’
The suspects had fled Britain for Pakistan after killing Sara Sharif, and were found by Pakistani police
The father and stepmother of a 10-year-old girl found dead in her home in England were found guilty on Wednesday of her murder.
Urfan Sharif, 42, was accused of Sara Sharif’s murder alongside his partner, 30-year-old Beinash Batool. His brother, 29-year-old Faisal Malik, was found guilty of causing or allowing the girl’s death.
Police found Sara’s body under a blanket in a bunk bed at her home in Woking, southwest of London, on August 10, 2023, with dozens of injuries including extensive bruising, burns and fractures. A postmortem examination concluded she died of unnatural causes.
Prosecutors have said that all three defendants played a part in a “campaign of abuse” against Sara in the weeks leading to her death. The three fled Britain for Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, on August 9, the day after Sara was believed to have died.
The discovery was made after Urfan Sharif called British police from Pakistan to say he had “legally punished her, and she died”, prosecutors said.
He told the phone operator it was not his intention to kill her but he had “beat her up too much”, they said.
