Sara Sharif’s death was an ‘accident’, says grandfather, as both father and stepmother appear in a video

By News Desk

The death of a 10-year-old in Woking last month has left many in the community shaken.

Sara Sharif was found dead at her family home in Woking during the early hours of 10 August. A post mortem report could not confirm how she died, but revealed that she sustained “multiple and extensive injuries” which had likely been caused over an extended period of time.

However, according to reports, the young girl’s grandfather has claimed that her death was an “accident”.

Urfan Sharif, the father, and one of the suspects along with his partner Beinash Batool and his brother Faisal, have fled the UK and are now roaming freely in Pakistan. It is believed that they left the country a day before Sara’s body was found.

Her grandfather, Muhammad Sharif, told the BBC, ““It was an accident, he (Urfan) didn’t tell me how it happened.”

He added that he went to Pakistan to meet Urfan after he left the UK out of “fear”, but said that he is not in touch with his son anymore.

“His daughter died and when you go under so much trauma, obviously you can’t think properly,” he said.

Rawalpindi Police had earlier confirmed that they had accessed video footage showing Urfan, his partners and the children arriving at the immigration counter on August 9.

But, they could not confirm which mode of transport they took after exiting the airport premises.

According to a report by the Dawn, raids were conducted at several places in Pakistan’s Punjab province where his relatives live. But, there were no reports of the three suspects being caught.

On Monday, 6 September, both Urfan and Beinash released a video claiming they are willing to co-operate with UK authorities. The father does not speak in the video, while Beinash is seen reading from a notebook deeming the death of Sara to be an “incident”. The BBC received the video but was unable to verify the account or the location from where it was sent.

Muhammad admitted that all three of them should have stayed in the UK and let the investigation happen instead of fleeing to Pakistan.

He told the BBC, “They will ultimately go back to the UK and face their case.

“Wherever they are, they will be able to listen to this. I say they should come out, (and) defend their case, whatever it is. They should answer the questions. I don’t say they should stay in hiding.”

He said that he will be haunted by the death of his “lovely” granddaughter for the rest of his life and added that “everything about her was so beautiful”.

Sara had visited Pakistan twice in her lifetime.