Details in trial for murder of British-Pakistani girl shock UK

LONDON: The trial of three family members accused of murdering a 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl has shocked the UK, as details of the horrific abuse she endured have emerged in court.

Sara Sharif was found dead in bed -- with fractured bones, bites and burn marks throughout her body -- at her family´s home in Woking, southern England, in August 2023. The discovery sparked an international manhunt for the relatives accused of the killing, after they had fled to Pakistan the previous day along with five of Sara´s siblings.

Her father, 42-year-old taxi driver Urfan Sharif, step-mother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, returned to Britain the following month and have been on trial since mid-October. They deny the charges.

London´s Old Bailey court has heard how Sara had 25 fractures, including the hyoid bone in the neck. Pathologist and bone specialist Anthony Freemont told the jury he had concluded that was the result of “neck compression” most commonly caused by “manual strangulation”.

The youngster had dozens of bruises, including bite marks, while her DNA as well as that of her father and uncle were detected on a cricket bat and both ends of a belt.

Sara´s blood was found inside a carrier bag believed to have been put over her head, while blood and hairs were detected on a piece of brown tape. Jurors heard on Friday that Batool was the only defendant who had refused to provide dental impressions of her teeth.

The court had previously learned of WhatsApp messages she had sent her sister over several years in which she reported that Sharif had hit Sara for being “rude and rebellious”.