Beaten, burned, bruised: The short and tragic life of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, murdered by father, stepmother

At 2:47 am on 10 August last year, Surrey Police received a call from Islamabad airport in Pakistan.

The caller, Urfan Sharif, confessed, saying, “I’ve killed my daughter.”

Heavily sobbing, he added, “It wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much.”

ALSO READ | Sara Sharif murder: How father, stepmother of 10-year-old were arrested after fleeing to Pakistan from UK

More than a year after British-Pakistani girl Sara Sharif’s death, her father, Urfan, 43, and stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, were convicted of murder on Wednesday. Her uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was found guilty of causing or allowing a child’s death.

How did Sara Sharif die?

In a bedroom at the top of the stairs, the 10-year-old girl’s body, wrapped in a blanket, was found on the bottom bunk.

On 10 August 2023, police found her in her home in Woking, southwest of London, with numerous injuries, including severe bruising, burns, and fractures. An autopsy revealed that she died of unnatural causes.

More from Explainers

How ChatGPT is becoming everyone’s BFF and why that’s dangerous This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

Sara had also been burned with a domestic iron, BBC said in a report.

During a search of the property, officers found items including makeshift hoods crafted from plastic bags and packing tape, alongside a cricket bat stained with Sara’s blood, the report said. This marked a horrific end for a girl remembered by her former teacher as spirited, sassy, and bubbly, with a passion for performing on stage.

During the trial, Sharif initially accused his wife, Beinash Batool, of Sara’s death but later accepted “full responsibility.” He admitted to throttling her with his hands and hitting her with a cricket bat and other objects.

Editor’s Picks

1

Father, stepmother convicted of murdering 10-year-old Sara Sharif in Britain 2

Sara Sharif trial: Gory details emerge from father’s confession, ‘I killed her with cricket bat’

The prosecution described how the violence in the household had become so routine that Sara’s injuries raised no concern, even at a family barbecue. A video taken just two days before her death showed Sara dancing at home, despite suffering from multiple broken bones and burns from an iron.

ALSO READ | The shocking case of British doctor who tried killing mother’s partner with fake COVID jab

She was described as feisty and full of dreams of being a fairy-tale princess, but she hid her suffering behind a smile.

Libby Clark, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said, “Seeing the footage of Sara laughing and joking despite her injuries, knowing what a happy child she was at school - she loved singing and dancing - and then understanding what happened to her is profoundly moving.”

Sharif, a taxi driver, spent six days in court denying any wrongdoing before abruptly admitting on the seventh day to taking “full responsibility” for Sara’s death.

He confessed to binding her with tape and beating her with a cricket bat, metal pole, and mobile phone but denied allegations of biting her or subjecting her to burns with an iron or boiling water, The Guardian reported.

Batool, who refused to provide her dental impressions, did not testify during the trial.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC argued that Sharif had established a “culture of violent discipline,” where assaults on Sara became routine. He told the jury that the young girl had been “brutally mistreated, abused, and violently assaulted” over the years.

Notably, Sara’s injuries had not gone unnoticed by her school, where staff observed a bruise beneath her left eye in June 2022 and other marks on her chin and right eye in March 2023. Sara gave conflicting explanations for these injuries and began wearing a hijab in January 2023 to conceal her facial bruises.

By April of that year, she had been withdrawn from school and was being home-schooled.

‘Being dramatic’

During the trial, Sharif alleged that he returned home on the evening of 8 August last year to find his wife, Batool, sitting on the floor of their bedroom holding Sara. Providing evidence, he said that Batool told him that Sara had fallen down the stairs while playing with another child and was “being dramatic.”

According to Sharif, he tried to help Sara up, but her arm went limp. Believing she was “pretending”, he admitted to hitting her in the stomach twice with a pole, the court heard, according to BBC.

He also claimed he attempted CPR for around 10 minutes but stopped when Batool allegedly said: “There’s no need because she’s dead.”

After fleeing to Pakistan, Sharif called the police in England shortly after landing, stating that he had killed Sara. Despite this admission, he denied intentionally causing her death and did not change his plea.

During sentencing, Justice Cavanagh told the Old Bailey (The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales) on Wednesday, “This case, above any other, has been stressful and traumatic.”

ALSO READ | Who is ‘Am Cyanide’, Thailand’s woman serial killer sentenced to death for poisoning 14 friends?

The verdict

On Wednesday, a jury found Sara’s father, Urfan, and stepmother, Batool, guilty of her murder after what prosecutors called a sustained “campaign of abuse.” Sharif’s brother, Faisal Malik, was convicted of causing or allowing her death.

After the verdict was delivered, Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Chapman from the Surry Police said that in his three decades of service, he had never seen “such horrific suffering of a young person.”

“It’s one of those cases that touches every single person who’s involved in it, and I’m sure has touched many members of the community as well,” he added.

Detective Chief Inspector Craig Emmerson described Sara’s murder as “one of the most difficult and distressing” cases Surrey Police had ever faced.

The three suspects were located in Pakistan after an extensive search and placed on a flight to the UK, where they were arrested upon arrival in London.

The trial also revealed that Sharif had previously been arrested on suspicion of assaulting Sara’s siblings, once when one was a baby and another as a young child. He had also faced allegations of abusing three unrelated Polish women, including Sara’s mother, Olga Domin, with the first accusation dating back to 2007.

Sara’s mother reacts

Sara’s mother, Olga Domin, paid an emotional tribute to her daughter, saying, “My dear Sara, I ask God to please take care of my little girl, she was taken too soon. Sara had beautiful brown eyes and an angelic voice. Sara’s smile could brighten up the darkest room. Everyone who knew Sara will know her unique character, her beautiful smile and loud laugh.”

“She will always be in our hearts, her laughter will bring warmth to our lives. We miss Sara very much. Love you, princess," she was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Notably, Sara had been placed in her father’s care following a custody hearing at Guildford family court in 2019, despite longstanding concerns about the risks he posed. Surrey County Council reportedly supported Sara’s return to her father, as this had been her stated preference at the time.

Court records revealed allegations Sara made about her mother, claiming that Domin had tried to drown her, burn her with a lighter, slap her, pinch her, and pull her hair. Some of these allegations were recorded by Sharif on video, though it remains unclear whether he influenced Sara’s claims.

Libby Clark said that Sharif’s willingness to take part in parenting and domestic violence courses likely supported his custody case.

Sophie Francis-Cansfield, head of policy at the charity Women’s Aid, described the case as a “devastating failure” to protect vulnerable children at risk.

With inputs from agencies