Sara Sharif’s cruel father and stepmum have been jailed for life for the 10-year-old’s murder.
Described as a ‘very courageous little girl with an unquenchable spirit’, the 10-year-old suffered years of torture at the hands of dad Urfan Sharif, 42, who regularly battered her with a cricket bat, metal pole and phone – even as she lay dying.
He also recruited his wife Beinash Batool, 30, to help him carry out the violence, with Sara often restrained with packaging tape and makeshift hoods throughout the twisted bouts of punishments.
Mr Justice John Cavanagh said: ‘Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool were putting Sara in pull-up nappies because she was unable to go to the toilet while she was trussed up.
‘There was medical evidence that you would then let her stew in her urine and faeces.’
Sara, who the judge said was treated as a ‘skivvy’ in the family, had suffered more than 25 broken bones, iron burns on her bottom, burn marks likely from hot water on her feet, and human adult bite marks during a campaign of abuse spanning at least two years.
‘There is no evidence of violence towards her older brother or her younger siblings’, Mr Justice John Cavanagh said in his sentencing remarks.
‘I have no doubt that you both cared much less for Sara than you did for the younger children because, unlike them, she was not Beinash Batool’s natural child.
‘I also have no doubt that she was treated differently from her older brother, even though they had the same parentage, because he was a boy and she was a girl.’
The judge deemed Mr Sharif’s abuse of Sara to be so severe, he ordered him to serve a minimum of 40 years behind bars before he can be considered for parole.
Factoring in moments of kindness Ms Batool showed to Sara, and that she was in a ‘coercive and controlling’ relationship, the judge ordered Ms Batool to a minimum term of 33 years.
‘The degree of cruelty involved is almost inconceivable’, Mr Justice Cavanagh said. ‘This happened in plain sight, in front of the rest of the family.’
Her uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, who lived with them, was convicted of causing or allowing her death after a jury deliberated for nine hours and 46 minutes.
Mr Malik was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The judge said: ‘You had only just arrived in the UK and were a guest in the home, but this cannot possibly excuse your failure to do anything to help protect Sara.
‘You are not a child, you were 28 years old – and anyone, however much they were in awe of their brother should have recognised that what was happening to Sara was dangerous and wrong and had to be stopped.’
All three adults – who flew to Pakistan leaving Sara’s battered and broken body under the pink duvet on her bunk bed at their Surrey home – were sentenced at the Old Bailey today.
Sara Sharif’s mother Olga Sharif described her killers as ‘sadists’ and ‘cowards’.
In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC, she said: ‘Sara was always smiling. She had her own unique character. The only thing I had left to give to my daughter was to give her a beautiful Catholic funeral that she deserves.
‘She is now an angel who looks down on us from heaven, she is no longer experiencing violence. To this day, I can’t understand how someone can be such a sadist to a child.’
Addressing the defendants in the dock, she said: ‘You are sadists although even this word is not enough for you. I would say, you are executioners.’
During the trial, jurors heard Sara suffered at least 71 external injuries and 29 fractures were found – so many that it was impossible to say which killed her.
Stepmum’s heartless reply when asked by detectives: ‘Do you love Sara?
Sara Sharif’s stepmum replied ‘no comment’ when asked by police whether she loved or cared about the 10-year-old, a video showed.
After the verdicts, police released videos showing all three defendants being interviewed on September 14, 2023, the day after they were arrested at Gatwick Airport after flying back from Pakistan.
In a 68-second clip, Batool replies ‘No comment’ to seven questions from officers, including ‘Do you love Sara?’, ‘Did you care about her at all?’, ‘What did you see?’ and ‘What happened to Sara?’.
At the start of the video Batool, wearing a black long-sleeved garment and smiling slightly, confirms her identity and responds ‘killing someone’, when asked what her understanding was of murder.
Another video shows Malik replying ‘no comment’ when asked by police who was responsible for the girl’s death and when an officer explains that she thinks he was either ‘actively involved’ in torturing Sara or was ‘sat there going “it’s not my problem, I can’t do anything”’.
Taxi driver Sharif is seen in a separate clip providing a handwriting sample of the words ‘love you Sara, maybe I will be back before you finish the post-mortem’, almost the same words that were in a note found next to the girl’s body.
Asked by police what he can tell them about the note, Sharif replies ‘No comment’. Wearing a white polo shirt and jeans, he sat with his arms folded.
Batool had told her sister that Sharif would ‘beat the crap’ out of his daughter.
But instead of reporting him or summoning help, she became the instigator of the violence by telling Sharif she was ‘naughty’ and demanding he ‘sort her out’.
Her injuries became so obvious, they made her wear a hijab to school to disguise them before removing her from the classroom permanently to be ‘home schooled’.
The violence intensified in those weeks between her being taken out of school and culminated in her death in August last year.
Jurors heard that Sharif had been granted custody in 2019, despite earlier allegations of child abuse and arrests for alleged controlling behaviour towards ex-girlfriends.
In documents later released by the family court, it emerged that concerns were raised about Sara’s care within a week of her birth in 2013, with her parents known to social services as early as 2010.
Surrey County Council repeatedly raised ‘significant concerns’ that Sara was likely to suffer physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her parents.
There were three sets of family court proceedings, but allegations that Sharif was physically abusing Sara and her siblings were never tested in court.
Sara was repeatedly returned to her parents’ care before finally being placed with her father and stepmother, four years before she was murdered.
Sir Keir Starmer described the case as ‘awful’ and stressed the importance of safeguards for children being home-schooled.
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said the case highlighted ‘profound weaknesses in our child protection system’.
Maria Neophytou, acting chief executive of the NSPCC, said it was an ‘shocking case’ raising ‘crucial questions’ about child protection.
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Rachael Wardell, from Surrey County Council, said that until an independent safeguarding review has concluded, a ‘complete picture cannot be understood or commented upon’.
Sara’s mother, Olga Sharif, said in a statement: ‘My dear Sara, I ask God to please take care of my little girl, she was taken too soon.
‘She will always be in our hearts, her laughter will bring warmth to our lives. We miss Sara very much. Love you, Princess.’
Sara’s siblings and half-siblings who were taken to Pakistan following her murder remain in the city of Jhelum, with their paternal grandfather. Efforts to return them to the UK are ongoing.
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