The father and stepmother of a 10-year-old girl have been convicted of her murder.
Sara Sharif's body was discovered at her home on Hammond Road in Horsell during the early hours of August 10, 2023. Surrey Police identified her father, Urfan Sharif, his partner, Beinash Batool, and his brother, Faisal Malik, as persons of interest.
The trio had left the UK for Islamabad, Pakistan, on August 9, just one day before Sara's body was found. Shortly after arriving in Islamabad with his partner, brother, and five children, Urfan Sharif made a 999 call to UK authorities from Pakistan.
Urfan, described in court as a "controlling, violent bully" and a psychopath, subjected Sara to months of torture, leading to what prosecutors called a "daily living hell." The 43-year-old was found guilty of murder on Wednesday following an eight-week trial at the Old Bailey.
His wife, Beinash, 30, was also convicted of murder, while his brother, Faisal, 29, was found guilty of causing or allowing Sara's death.
The judge, Mr Justice Cavanagh, adjourned sentencing until next Tuesday, telling jurors the case had been "extremely stressful and traumatic."
Sara Sharif endured horrific abuse, suffering over 25 broken bones caused by repeated blows with a cricket bat, metal pole, and mobile phone. She had a fractured hyoid bone in her neck from being throttled, iron burns on her buttocks, boiling water burns on her feet, and human bite marks on her arm and thigh.
Jurors heard evidence indicating that Sara had been bound with packaging tape and hooded during the assaults, subjecting her to excruciating pain. Despite witnessing the prolonged abuse, which spanned more than two years, Beinash admitted to her sisters that Urfan would routinely "beat the crap" out of Sara but failed to report the ongoing violence.
Children's commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said Sara's murder highlighted "profound weaknesses in our child protection system".
"There can be no doubt that Sara was failed in the starkest terms by the safety net of services around her," she said, according to BBC.
"Even before she was born, she was known to social care, and yet she fell off their radar so entirely that by the time she died, she was invisible to them all.
"We can have no more reviews, no more strategies, no more debate. When we say 'never again', we have to mean it – let that be Sara's legacy."
