Emily Brown
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
The father of a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in her home in Britain called cops to tell them that he 'legally' 'beat her up' for being 'naughty'.
Sara Sharif was found to have suffered burns, 'probable human bite marks', broken bones and extensive bruising when she was discovered in Surrey, UK on August 10, 2023.
The schoolgirl's father, Urfan Sharif, 42; stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30; and uncle, Faisal Malik, 28, are now on trial for her murder, with prosecutors describing Sara's suffering as a 'campaign of abuse'.
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During the trial, the court heard how Sharif made a call to police in the early hours of August 10 in which he appeared to be emotional, leaving the operator struggling to understand him.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC said: “[They] interrupted and said ‘take a deep breath and tell me what’s happened.’
"999 operators are used to hearing all kinds of dreadful things, but this one cannot have expected the answer he got to that question.”
On the call, Sharif told the operator: “I’ve killed my daughter."
The father then allegedly added: “I legally punished her and she died.”
When Sharif was asked for more details about the killing, he told the operator that his daughter had been 'naughty'.
He continued: "I beat her up, it wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much."
Sharif went on to ask police to go to his home because his daughter was 'alone'. When they arrived, officers found Sara on the bottom bunk in an upstairs bedroom.
Alongside Sara's lifeless body, 42-year-old Sharif left a note on the bed which allegedly stated: “It’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating.
“I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it. I am running away because I am scared.”
The family had fled the country, flying to Pakistan on August 9 and landing on August 10.
Addressing the court, Emlyn Jones claimed Sara's abuse was not a one-off, suggesting she had been 'the victim of assault and physical abuse for weeks and weeks at least'.
“So no, Sara had not just been beaten up. Her treatment, certainly in the last few weeks of her life, had been appalling; it had been brutal," he said.
Sharif has claimed that Sara was primarily looked after by his wife, Batool, and that his apparent confessions had been made to protect his partner.
However, Batool claimed Sharif was a 'violent disciplinarian' who had assaulted his daughter on a regular basis, and said that she was too afraid to intervene.
Malik, who is also on trial, has claimed he had no knowledge of abuse against Sara.
The trial is ongoing.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.