WOKING, England- A 10-year-old girl’s death has led to the arrest and court appearance of her father, stepmother, and uncle on murder charges. The trio, who were apprehended in Pakistan and extradited to the UK, are accused of causing or allowing the death of Sara Sharif, who was found dead in her Woking home on August 10.
The accused, Urfan Sharif, 41, his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother Faisal Malik, 28, appeared briefly at Guildford Magistrates’ Court near Woking. They confirmed their identities but did not enter pleas. Their legal representatives, however, stated that the defendants deny the charges. The court ordered their detention until the next hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
The day before Sara’s body was discovered, the three suspects, along with five other children, had left for Islamabad, Pakistan. The police were alerted to the situation when they received a call from Pakistan, leading them to the family home in Woking. There, they found Sara’s lifeless body under a blanket. Although an autopsy did not conclusively establish the cause of death, it revealed healed fractures and other injuries suggestive of repeated violence.
In Pakistan, local authorities detained 10 relatives of Urfan Sharif, including his father, brothers, and cousins, in an effort to pressure the suspects into surrendering. The trio was eventually arrested and flown back to the UK, where they were taken into custody upon arrival at Gatwick Airport.
Meanwhile, the five children who had traveled with the suspects to Pakistan were recovered from Urfan Sharif’s family home. A court in Pakistan has ordered their placement under the care of the Child Protection Bureau in Rawalpindi city, near Islamabad.