LONDON: Beenish Batool, the stepmother of the 10-year-old found dead in her Woking home last month, released a video message on Wednesday, the first public statement by the deceased minor’s immediate family.

The video, which appears to have been recorded on a smartphone, shows Sara’s stepmother with her father Urfan Sharif beside her. Ms Batool claims the couple are willing to co-operate with UK authorities, and that their family is in hiding out of fear of torture by Pakistani police.

Ms Batool is the only one who speaks in the video, while Urfan sits silently. Reading from a notebook, she describes Sara’s death as an “incident”, and alleged that police in Pakistan were harassing the couple’s extended family, illegally detaining them and raiding their homes.

She spoke briefly of Sara. “Firstly, I would like to talk about Sara. Sara’s death was an incident. Our family in Pakistan are severely affected by all that is going on,” Ms Batool said.

Claim they are willing to cooperate with UK authorities; say they fear ‘torture’ by Pakistani police

“All the media have been giving wrong statements and making up lies. “Imran [one of Mr Sharif’s brothers] did not give a statement that Sara fell down the stairs and broke her neck. This was spread through a Pakistani media outlet. I am very worried about Imran’s safety.”

She claimed the family is running out of food and is unable to leave home. “All of our family members have gone into hiding as everyone is scared for their safety.

“The kids are unable to attend school as they’re afraid to leave the house. No one is leaving the house.”

“The groceries have run out and there is no food for the kids as the adults are unable to leave their homes out of fear for safety.”

Ms Batool said that the reason the family is in hiding is because they fear that the Pakistan police will torture and kill them.

But Jhelum police chief Mehmood Bajwa told the BBC the allegations of “harassment and torture of family members are false”.

Last month, Urfan Sharif’s father had petitioned the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court against the harassment of his family members. The court barred the police from detaining them again but the officers said they would continue to question them.

Earlier, Sara’s mother Olga, in an interview with a Polish channel, said the girl had been so badly injured that she “did not recognise her” in the mortuary.

“One of her cheeks was swollen and the other side was bruised. Even now, when I close my eyes I can see what my baby looked like,” Olga said in an interview.

The grandfather and uncle of Sara Sharif have previously claimed that her death was “accidental”, with one account reported in the media claiming “she fell down the stairs and broke her neck”.

Urfan, his brother Faisal Malik, Beenish and five children flew from the UK to Pakistan a day after Sara died. Police believe the trio left the country on Aug 9, a day before Sara’s body was discovered.

Surrey Police said a post-mortem examination revealed Sara “suffered multiple and extensive injuries”, which they said were “likely to have been caused over a sustained and extended period of time”.

She was previously known to authorities, according to Surrey County Council, while Surrey Police said they had ‘limited and historic contact’ with Sara’s family.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2023