TEN-YEAR-OLD Sara Sharif's short life was marked by persistent violence and tragic neglect, culminating in her brutal murder by her own father and stepmother.
The court heard a devastating account of a young girl surrounded by violence from her earliest years. Born in 2013 to a Polish mother and Pakistani father, Sara was known as a vibrant, talented child who loved performing and dreamed of appearing on The X Factor.
Despite repeated interventions by social services, police, and schools, Sara remained trapped in a cycle of abuse. Her family was known to authorities since 2010, with multiple incidents of violence and neglect documented. Sara was placed in foster care twice before she was three, with social workers recording numerous unexplained injuries to her and her siblings.
Urfan Sharif, her father, and Beinash Batool, her stepmother, were found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey. The court revealed a horrifying pattern of abuse, including beatings, burns, and humiliation. Sara was subjected to extreme punishments, including being forced to do sit-ups all night and being beaten with a cricket bat.
Sara 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.
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.
'Beaten black'
During the trial, jurors heard 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".
"She's covered in bruises, literally beaten black," one message stated. "She's got a jinn in her," Batool had added, referring to genie-like supernatural beings from mythology.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones revealed that four months before her death, Sharif had told Sara's school that she would be homeschooled "with immediate effect".
Around the same time the family relocated the short distance from the town of West Byfleet to Woking.
By then, teachers had noted bruising on her body, in June 2022 and March 2023.
Asked about the injuries, Sara had not wanted to answer and hid her head in her arms, the court has heard.
Giving evidence earlier in the trial, teacher Helen Simmons described her as a "happy child", who at times would be "sassy".
Simmons recounted how she twice saw bruises on her face, and when the girl had not given a consistent account of her injuries the school had made a referral to watchdog services.
That had prompted Batool to confront her at the school two weeks later and claim the marks had been made by a pen, jurors have heard.
'Lost it'
Meanwhile neighbours regularly heard shouting, commotions and crying. Rebecca Spencer, who lived below the family, said she would hear Batool "screaming".
"I would hear the stepmother shout at Sara," she testified.
Spencer also said she heard noises that sounded like someone "locked in a bedroom", with "the constant rattling of the door" as they were "trying to get it open".
Surrey County Council has commissioned a safeguarding review to understand how multiple agencies failed to protect Sara. Experts warn that children taken out of school are particularly vulnerable, becoming "invisible" to protective systems.
(with inputs from AFP)
Apsana Begum
