the father of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl found dead in her home in Britain, reportedly told police, “I beat her up too much,” as stated by prosecutors at his murder trial on Monday.
Sara was discovered deceased in August 2023 at her home in Woking, southwest of London, following what prosecutors describe as a pattern of “serious and repeated violence.”
Her father, Urfan Sharif, 42, his wife and Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, and the girl’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, are on trial at London’s Old Bailey, charged with her murder. The trio also faces alternative charges of causing or allowing the death of a child. All three deny the allegations and shift blame onto one another, according to prosecutors.
On the trial’s first day, prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones informed jurors that Urfan called British police after fleeing to Pakistan following Sara’s death. “He used what you may find to be an odd expression,” Emlyn Jones remarked. “He said: ‘I legally punished her and she died.’”
Jones noted that Urfan told police, “I beat her up. It wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much.” Additionally, a handwritten note from Urfan was found next to Sara’s body, stating: “I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it.”
The prosecutor argued that Urfan, Batool, and Malik all played roles in the violence and mistreatment that led to Sara’s death. Each defendant denies responsibility and seeks to deflect blame onto the others. According to Jones, Urfan accuses Batool, while Batool claims Urfan was a “violent disciplinarian” she feared, and Malik asserts he was unaware of any abuse or violence.
