The father of Sara Sharif, a British-Pakistani 10-year-old girl whose death last year sparked an international manhunt, forced his daughter to do sit-ups all night because she hid his keys, a court heard earlier this week. Urfan Sharif also allegedly made the little girl throw her hands up after hitting her so hard that her stepmother, Beinash Batool, feared he would break her arms and legs. The Guardian reported.
The chilling details emerged as prosecutors on Thursday read out a series of WhatsApp messages between Batool and her older sister Qandeela Saboohi from 2019 to 2013, telling the court they detailed the alleged abuse. In the text messages, Batool described the 10-year-old's father as a “psycho” who “beat up Sara.” According to The GuardianShe also said Sharif told her to cover up the girl's bruises with makeup and sunglasses after the 10-year-old's teachers became concerned about her being homeschooled.
In particular, Sharif, 42, his wife, Batool, 30, and brother Faisal Malik, 29, are on trial accused of waging a violent 'campaign of abuse' before the 10-year-old was found dead at the family home in Surrey . in August 2023. The three allegedly killed Sara on August 8 before fleeing to Pakistan, from where Sharif called police to say he had “beat her up too much”. He also left a handwritten “confession” near her body, saying, “I swear to God I didn't mean to kill her. But I lost it.”
On Thursday the court heard how the girl was 'literally beaten to death' by her father as jurors were shown photos of the inside of the house where Sara was found dead. Text messages recovered from Batool's sister's phone revealed that the stepmother once told Saboohi that Sharif would “regret” if Sara revealed that he “beat her like crazy and with all the bruises,” before she added, “I literally have to push Urfan aside and save him. Sara.”
Batool also sent ten photos showing bruises and said: “This is how bad he beats her… I really feel sorry for her, he beats her up.”
On January 24, 2021, Batool told Saboohi that Sharif “beat up Sara like crazy” and went “ballistic” with her. Describing another incident in May 2021, Batool wrote, “Urfan is going crazy when he beats up Sara. I'm having some kind of panic attack… He's literally going to break her arm or leg, I have no idea what to do.” … I'm in the other room, he's locked us out, he's not opening the door.”
The next day, Batool told her sister that she wanted to report Sharif for “beating up Sara.” “She's covered in bruises, literally… black,” Batool said, adding: “The poor girl can't walk, she literally passed out in the kitchen in the morning” and “he left her up all night doing sit-ups”.
In February 2022, Batool messaged another sister, Amima Shahid, saying Sharif was beating up Sara at home. “(If) something happens to Sara, I won't be able to forgive myself,” she told the BBC.
That same year, in June, Batool told her sister that she was considering pulling Sara out of school. “Sara's body is literally bruised because Urfan beat her up, I can't even hide it,” she said. The 30-year-old also stated that Sara was beaten for being “rude and rebellious”.
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A few days later, Batool told Saboohi that the school was “concerned” about Sara and that Sharif had been told to bring her in. Batool said, “Urfan told me to cover it (the bruises) with makeup and she is going to do that. wear sunglasses.”
In November 2022, Batool sent a message to the other sister, Shahid, saying she was “too stressed to talk” and that she and Sharif had broken up. Batool also said that Sharif was going to Pakistan the next day, adding, “He went crazy today,” and that he had taken money and a passport with him.
In April 2023, Batool said Sara was not eating properly and tried to make herself vomit. In May, she added that Sharif had been beating up Sara “like crazy”, saying: “Her oxygen levels had dropped very low, she is finding it difficult to stay awake… She is breathing very fast.”
The day before Sara died, Saboohi tried to make contact, but Batool told her she was “not in the mood to talk”.
Sharif, Batool and Malik all deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child. Jurors were previously told that Sara had been hooded, burned, bitten and beaten during more than two years of abuse. The prosecutor also told them that the accuracy of the messages Batool sent to her sisters over several years was in question because they only reflected what she wanted to tell them.
The process is underway.
