UK court jails father, stepmother for life for murder of daughter Sara Sharif

Published
0
A combination of handout photographs made available by Surrey Police on December 11 shows Urfan Sharif (L), Beinash Batool (R) and Sara Sharif (M). — Photo by Handout/Surrey Police/AFP
A combination of handout photographs made available by Surrey Police on December 11 shows Urfan Sharif (L), Beinash Batool (R) and Sara Sharif (M). — Photo by Handout/Surrey Police/AFP

The father and stepmother of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl who was found dead in her home in Britain, were on Tuesday jailed for 40 and 33 years respectively for her murder after a trial which heard harrowing details of her treatment.

She was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London, after what prosecutors said was a campaign of “serious and repeated violence”.

The family fled to Pakistan immediately after she was killed, before they were arrested in September 2023 at London’s Gatwick airport after flying from Dubai.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors at the start of the trial that Sara had suffered injuries, including burns, multiple broken bones and bite marks.

Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 43, and his wife Beinash Batool, 30, stood trial at London’s Old Bailey court charged with her murder, which they denied.

Last week, the jury convicted Urfan and Batool of Sara’s murder. Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of causing or allowing her death.

Urfan and Batool appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey, where they heard a statement read on behalf of Sara’s mother Olga Domin who called them “executioners”.

“You are sadists, although even this word is not enough for you,” her statement read. “I would say you are executioners.”

Judge John Cavanagh sentenced Urfan to a minimum of 40 years in prison and Batool to a minimum of 33 years. Malik was sentenced to 16 years.

“The courts at the Old Bailey have been witness to many accounts of awful crimes, but few can have been more terrible than the account of the despicable treatment of this poor child that the jury in this case have had to endure,” Cavanagh said.

“It is no exaggeration to describe the campaign of abuse against Sara as torture.”

Opinion

Editorial

The debt burden
07 Nov, 2026

The debt burden

PAKISTAN’S external debt has nearly doubled in a decade — from $68.7bn in 2015 to $135.1bn in 2025 — according...
Expendable LGs
07 Nov, 2026

Expendable LGs

POLITICAL parties frequently appear reluctant to hold regular local bodies elections on one pretext or another. This...
Scam centres
07 Nov, 2026

Scam centres

THE recent raid by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency on a dubious call centre in Karachi shows how...
Reviewing ties
Updated 06 Nov, 2026

Reviewing ties

With the Democrats clawing back power in Congress, changes in America’s approach to global engagement are likely to occur.
Genuine engagement
06 Nov, 2026

Genuine engagement

THE PTI-led opposition alliance TTAP appears to have finally brought an initially reluctant Maulana Fazlur Rahman on...
Human bondage
Updated 06 Nov, 2026

Human bondage

Law enforcement and political quarters are notorious for protecting the perpetrators, instead of ensuring legal implementation. Systemic coercion will keep Pakistan from becoming a humane state.