- Friday, December 01, 2023
Inquest at Surrey Coroner’s Court hears that her death could be ‘unnatural’
By: Chandrashekar Bhat
THE cause of 10-year-old Woking girl Sara Sharif’s death is “not yet ascertained”, Surrey Coroner’s Court has heard.
She was found dead in her family home in the early hours of August 10. Police are looking for her father Urfan Sharif, his partner Beinash Batool and his brother Faisal Malik who are believed to have fled to Pakistan.
A post-mortem examination revealed that she suffered multiple and extensive injuries likely “over a sustained and extended period of time”. But it could not establish how the girl died.
Sara’s death could be “unnatural”, the court heard during an inquest on Tuesday (29). She was born in Slough, Berkshire, in 2013 and media reports said her family moved to a Woking council home in April this year.
Investigators are working with Pakistani authorities to trace Urfan Sharif, Batool and Malik.
Raids have been conducted at several places in Pakistan’s Punjab province where their close relatives live, the Dawn newspaper reported.
However, police said their family members remained elusive, with Urfan Sharif trying to avoid his detection.
UK police were told that the suspects bought one-way air tickets to escape to Pakistan. The Interpol alerted the Pakistani authorities to help trace the suspects.
Rawalpindi regional police officer Syed Khurram Ali Shah said the police obtained video footage of the immigration counter of Islamabad airport and found Sharif, his partner and children arriving there on August 9.
Footage from CCTV cameras installed outside the airport was unclear about what kind of transport they used after they exited the premises.
Police think the suspects are not using any local mobile phone SIM or contacting their family members for fear of being caught.
Urfan Sharif’s father Muhammad has appealed to his son to come forward and speak to the police.
“We want them to present themselves. We want to resolve the matter as the privacy of our house is affected due to frequent police raids,” Muhammad, 68, told The Sunday Times.
