The father of 10-year-old Sara Sharif reportedly called the police from Pakistan and admitted to killing her at their home in Surrey, the court was told.
Urfan Sharif is said to have made this confession during an eight and a half minute phone call shortly after his family’s flight landed in Islamabad on 10 August last year. This call happened before Sara’s body was found in their home.
Mr. Sharif, 42, along with his wife, Beinash Batool, 30, and her brother-in-law, Faisal Malik, 29, have all denied killing Sara.
At the Old Bailey on Monday, the jury was told that Mr. Sharif’s defense said his wife, Ms. Batool, was the one responsible for Sara’s death, and that he confessed to protect her.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC said that Sara had been hurt in violent attacks for “weeks and weeks.”
She was found with many injuries, including bruises, burns, and broken bones, some old and some new.
In his phone call to Surrey Police, Mr. Sharif is said to have told the operator that he “legally punished” Sara and that she died as a result.
“Sara had been “naughty” and I beat her.
“It wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her too much,”
However, the prosecutor stressed that Sara’s treatment, especially in the last few weeks of her life, had been “horrific and brutal.” A note found next to Sara’s body also appeared to be a confession.
“Whoever reads this note, it’s me, Urfan Sharif, who killed my daughter by beating her”.
“I swear to God that I didn’t mean to kill her, but I lost control.”
“I’m running away because I’m scared, but I promise I will turn myself in and accept punishment.”
The following day, the whole family fled on a flight out of the UK, landing in Pakistan on August 10, meaning Sharif was thousands of miles away when he made the call to police.
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Mr Emlyn Jones told jurors that evidence would show Sara died last August 8, two days before she was found.
The police found Sara’s body under blankets on a bed, as though she were sleeping. However, as Mr. Jones KC told the jury, “she wasn’t sleeping; she was dead.”
The three defendants, who lived with Sara before her death, are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child but they all deny these charges.
The prosecutor said that each defendant is trying to blame the others. He added that it was “hard to believe” that one person could have caused the abuse without help or encouragement from the others.
Mr. Jones KC also pointed out that none of the defendants reported Sara’s abuse to anyone who could have helped in the abuse.
The trial, which is due to go on for seven weeks at the Central Criminal Court, continues.
