Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl, was discovered dead in her family's residence in Woking, Surrey, England, on 10 August 2023.[1][2][3] She had suffered numerous and severe injuries over an extended period. Three suspects fled to Pakistan[4][3] and were arrested on their return to the United Kingdom. They were charged with murder and remanded in custody. In November 2024, Sara's father, Urfan Sharif, admitted that he was responsible for causing her death.[5] On 11 December 2024, Urfan Sharif and his wife Beinash Batool were found guilty of murdering Sara.[6]
Sara Sharif was born on 11 January 2013 in Slough, Berkshire.[7][3] Her mother, Olga Domin (formerly Sharif),[8] is Polish.[7] Olga has learning difficulties and was considered "vulnerable".[9][10] Her father is Urfan Sharif, a Pakistani taxi driver who moved to the UK in 2001.[7][11]
A former partner of Urfan Sharif, Angelika, said that he accused her of having an abortion after she suffered a miscarriage, threatened her with a knife, tried to brand her with his initials, and held her captive in his home. After escaping from his flat through a window, she reported Sharif to the police, who arrested and detained him for two days. They had met when Sharif was her shift manager while she was working at a Burger King restaurant in Woking. After separating from him, Angelika went back to her native Poland.[12]
Urfan Sharif allegedly met Olga in Poland during a trip to stalk Angelika.[12] In 2009, the couple married and had a son in 2010.[7][11] One year into the marriage, Urfan was arrested for assaulting Olga and a child. Olga allegedly told social services that Urfan tightened a belt around her neck and that he locked her in a room and took her phone.[13] She also said that he once tried to set her on fire and poured oil on her, but her cousin stopped him.[8][14] Sara was put under a child protection plan as soon as she was born, due to concerns that she was at risk of harm from both of her parents.[15] The couple separated in 2015 and later divorced, after which the children lived with Olga, but in 2019, their custody was awarded to Urfan, after which they lived in Horsell, Woking, with him, his wife Beinash Batool, the couple's four children and Urfan's brother.[7][11]
Abuse
Olga, who objected to them being raised Muslim, had little contact with her children during the time they lived in Woking.[7] She initially was allowed to see them often, but her visits became rarer after Batool told her not to visit her children, claiming that they did not desire to see her anymore. According to Olga, "[i]t's not normal that once the children were happy, and arguing about who would talk to Mum first, and then the kids don't even want to talk to me on the phone and are calling me the worst names."[16]
Sara was forced to carry out domestic chores for Urfan and Batool, and neighbours told the jury that they had regularly heard Batool being verbally abusive towards Sara.[17] Sara was subject to regular beatings that would result in her being tied up with tape and her head covered with a "makeshift hood".[18] Batool purchased large amounts of tape online.[19]
Sara began wearing a hijab at school to cover up her bruises[18] and gave multiple conflicting stories at school about how she received her injuries.[20] After she could not explain her injuries to her teachers, the school referred Sara to social services.[21] In April 2023, Sara was taken out of primary school under the ruse of being homeschooled to cover up the abuse that she was receiving from Urfan and Batool.[22] A neighbour of the Sharifs, Rebecca Spencer, reported that she heard "constant crying"[23] and "screaming",[23] which had at one point reached "fever pitch"[23] coming from their address. She also said that Batool turned her away after she visited out of concern for the Sharifs' welfare.[23] Another neighbour of the Sharifs, Fiona Mellon, said that she heard a young girl scream "in pain"[24] two days before Sara died.[24]
Discovery of the body and investigation
Sara's body was discovered at her residence on Hammond Road, Horsell, during the early hours of 10 August 2023 by police constable George Van der Wart.[2][3] On the day of Sara's death, Sara's older brother sent his friend a text message stating that his sister had died.[19] Urfan left a note addressed to Sara near her body, apologizing for her death and asking the reader to bury her in accordance with Islamic funeral traditions.[25]Surrey Police identified Urfan Sharif, his wife Beinash Batool, and his brother Faisal Malik as persons of interest.[4] All three departed from the UK for Islamabad, Pakistan, on 9 August, a day before Sara's body was found.[26][3] On 8 August, Urfan messaged travel agent Nadeem Riaz, asking for eight one-way aeroplane tickets to Islamabad, Pakistan. Urfan claimed that his cousin had died. Riaz said that he knew Urfan for 11 years prior to the incident, and that Urfan "sounded normal".[27] Urfan Sharif made a 999 call from Pakistan shortly after he arrived in Islamabad with his wife, brother, and five children.[28] He admitted, "I've killed my daughter,"[29] stating, "It wasn't my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much."[29] He told the dispatcher that his actions were intended as punishment, saying, "I'm a cruel father."[29]
On 15 August 2023, a post-mortem was carried out, which discovered that Sara had suffered numerous and severe injuries over an extended period.[28] At the trial, her more than 70 injuries were revealed:[30] these included injuries to her ribs, shoulder blades, fingers and 11 fractures to her spine, a puncture wound to the head, a traumatic brain injury, a burn on her buttock caused by a domestic iron, scalds by hot water, restraint injuries, bruises caused by blunt objects and human bite marks.[30][31][32][33]
The cause of death was determined to be "complications arising from multiple injuries and neglect".[34] Owen Arthurs, a paediatric radiologist providing evidence to the court, stated that Sara had sustained neck injuries that occur "extremely rare[ly]"[35] and that said injuries were likely caused by "manual strangulation with a degree of force above that which we would normally recognise in ligature force – meaning hanging".[36] Arthur said that Sara's spinal fractures were "very rare",[35] and compared them to those usually found in victims of traffic collisions.[35] Anthony Freemont, a osteoarticular pathologist giving evidence to the court, said that she had hyoid bone[37] and wrist fractures, both of which were determined to be non-accidental. He also stated that the aforementioned fractures were not what had killed her.[38] Niall Martin, a burns and plastic surgeon providing evidence to the court, said that Sara was burnt on the buttocks by a "domestic iron",[24] which would have caused "significant physical and psychological discomfort"[24] to her. He said that though he could not provide an exact date for the injury, he believed it to be between two and six weeks old. There was no evidence of "adhesive residue"[24] near the wound, which suggests that the wound was neglected. Sara's feet were also scalded by a "hot liquid".[24] Tim De Meyer, chief constable of the Surrey Police, said that Sara's death was "a crime of the most unimaginable and unspeakable evil"[39] and that the case was "about as bad as [he has] ever seen".[39] Mark Chapman, detective chief superintendent of the Surrey Police, said that he had never seen "such horrific suffering of a young person"[6] before in his entire 30-year-long career.[6]
International manhunt
Authorities initiated an international search to locate the suspects.[2] Two police teams in Jhelum were actively searching for Urfan Sharif. There is no official extradition agreement in place between the United Kingdom and Pakistan.[28] The police made a new request for information two weeks after the discovery of Sharif's body, urging anyone who had contact with her to come forward with information.[2] Muhammad Sharif, Urfan's father, said that Urfan had visited him in Jhelum while fleeing from the police and that Urfan told him that Sara's death was accidental.[40] According to Muhammad, Urfan was hiding from the police out of "fear"[40] and added that Urfan was likely not "think[ing] properly".[40]
On 12 September 2023, police raided the house of Urfan Sharif's father in Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan and recovered the five children in good condition, after which they were put in care.[26][41] On 13 September, the three suspects were arrested at Gatwick Airport on suspicion of murder after disembarking a flight from Sialkot via Dubai.[26]
Trial
On 14 September 2023, they were all charged with murder along with an additional charge of causing or allowing the death of a child. They were remanded in custody ahead of a hearing on 15 September at Guildford Magistrates' Court.[42] They appeared before London's Old Bailey on 19 September 2023 via videolink.[43] A plea hearing took place in December 2023, at which all three pleaded not guilty to each charge,[44] and they were set to stand trial in September 2024.[43]
At an Old Bailey hearing on 26 January 2024, Judge Mark LucraftKC set a provisional trial date for October, with the actual date to be confirmed at a hearing in February.[45] At a hearing on 1 March, it was confirmed the trial was tabled to begin on 1 October.[46]
On 8 October 2024, the jury was sworn in at the start of the trial of the three defendants at the Old Bailey.[47] The prosecutor revealed on 14 October that Sara's father had admitted killing her when he rang 999 after landing in Pakistan:[48] he claimed he had "legally punished her"[49] and told the operator "I beat her up, it wasn't my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much".[50][49] In November, he accepted "full responsibility"[5] for causing Sara's death.[5] Urfan Sharif called himself the "worst parent on the planet"[51] and "accepted he was unkind and cruel"[51] to Sara during cross-examination.[51]
On 11 December 2024, Urfan Sharif and Batool were found guilty of murdering Sara.[6] Malik was found not guilty of murder but was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.[6]
On 17 December 2024, Sharif was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years, while Batool was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 33 years, with the judge, Mr Justice Cavanagh, describing their crimes as "a campaign of torture"[52] in which "the degree of cruelty is almost inconceivable".[52] Malik was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for causing or allowing the death of a child.[52]
Imprisonment
On 1 January 2025, Urfan Sharif was ambushed in his cell by two inmates while serving his sentence at HM Prison Belmarsh, who then attacked him by slitting his throat with a tuna can lid.[53] Sharif suffered non-life threatening injuries to his face and neck.[54] He was treated inside the prison and was not transported to a hospital.[54] After the attack, Sharif was transferred to HM Prison Frankland under heavy security.[55]
While incarcerated at HM Prison Bronzefield, Beinash Batool was reported to have become good friends with Lucy Letby, a former neonatal nurse convicted of murdering seven infants, with them playing cards together and talking to each other frequently. They are housed in the same secure unit to protect them from other inmates.[56][57]
Related litigation
The High Court of Justice placed a gag order on the media in December 2024 to prevent them from reporting the names of the judges that placed Sara in Urfan's custody, due to a "real risk of harm"[58] from a "virtual lynch mob".[58]Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, overturned the previous judgement after an appeal by media organizations, calling it "misguided".[59] The judges overseeing the family court trial were named as Alison Raeside, Peter Nathan, and Sally Williams,[59] none of whom requested anonymity.[60]
In January 2025, the Solicitor General's Office referred Urfan Sharif's sentence to the Court of Appeal, under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.[61]
↑ "Sara Sharif, l'enfant martyre dont le calvaire bouleverse les Britanniques"[Sara Sharif, the martyred child whose ordeal upsets the British]. Le Nouvel Obs (in French). 1 November 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2025. Même l'os hyoïde du cou avait été brisé, probablement par «étranglement manuel», selon cet expert, Anthony Freemont.[Even the hyoid bone of the neck had been broken, probably by "manual strangulation", according to this expert, Anthony Freemont.]
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