Father and stepmother jailed for murder

The “sadistic” father and stepmother of 10-year-old Sara Sharif have been jailed for life for her murder.

Sara was hooded, burned and beaten during a “campaign of torture” that lasted two years before her body was found at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in 2023.

At the Old Bailey, her father Urfan Sharif, 43, was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in prison for murder, while her stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, received a minimum of 33 years.

Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment for causing or allowing her death.

Mr Justice Cavanagh told the court that the treatment Sara received from Sharif and Batool was “torture”.

“The degree of cruelty involved is almost inconceivable,” he said.

“You Beinash Batool did not stand in Urfan Sharif’s way. You encouraged Urfan Sharif in his assaults.”

In a statement read out in court, Sara’s mother, Olga Domin, said the defendants were “sadists”, adding: “Although even this word is not enough for you. I would say you are executioners.”

Paying tribute to her daughter, Ms Domin said: “She is now an angel who looks down on us from heaven. She is no longer experiencing violence.

“I hoped that when she grew up would we meet, but now that won’t happen.”

Warning: This article features distressing details

The trial heard how a post-mortem examination found Sara had suffered injuries including six probable human bite marks, an iron burn and scalding from hot water before she died on 8 August last year.

Next to Sara’s body, which was found by police in a bunkbed, was a note in her father’s handwriting, which read: “Whoever see this note, it’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating.”

Sharif initially claimed that Batool was responsible for Sara’s death, and told the jury he had made a false confession in the note and a subsequent phone call in order to protect his wife.

However, in a dramatic U-turn under cross-examination, Sharif later accepted “full responsibility” for his daughter’s death.

Sara had more than 70 new external injuries when her body was found by police, including 11 fractures to her spine and signs of a traumatic brain injury.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC previously said a bloodstained cricket bat, a rolling pin with Sara’s DNA on it, a metal pole, a belt and rope were found near the family’s outhouse.

Dental impressions ruled out that the bite marks had been caused by the male defendants, but Batool refused to provide samples.

Sara began wearing a hijab to hide her injuries in January 2023 after her primary school noticed bruises on her face. By April last year, she had been withdrawn to be home-schooled.

Sharif, Batool and Malik fled to Islamabad, Pakistan, with Sara’s five siblings on 9 August 2023, the day before her body was found.

From Pakistan, Sharif called police in England about an hour after their flight had landed and told the operator that he killed Sara.

In the call, which lasted eight minutes and 34 seconds, he said he “legally punished her” and she died.