Sara Sharif's father and stepmum branded ‘executioners’ as they’re jailed for life over 'despicable' murder of 10-year-old
Urfan Sharif, 43 and Beinash Batool, 30 were found guilty of murdering their daughter Sara last week at The Old Bailey
Additional Reporting by Charlie Peters
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The father and stepmother of Sara Sharif have been jailed for life with a minimum of 40 years and 33 years respectively, for murdering the 10-year-old girl after years of horrific abuse.
Faisal Malik, her uncle, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison, for causing or allowing the death of a child.
Delivering his sentencing remarks, Justice Cavanagh said the young girl's death was a “culmination of years of neglect”, “frequent assault” and “torture”.
Addressing the defendants in the dock, he said what happened to the 10-year-old was “almost inconceivable” and that none of them had shown “a shred of remorse”.
The father and stepmother of Sara Sharif have been jailed for life
PA
The judge added: “It is no exaggeration to describe the campaign of abuse against Sara as torture.”
The schoolgirl died in her home on August 8, 2023, in Woking Surrey. Her body was found two days later in a bunk bed, covered in at least 71 external injuries including bruises, burns, and bite marks.
Urfan Sharif, 43 and Beinash Batool, 30 were found guilty of murdering their daughter Sara last week at The Old Bailey.
Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29 was not found guilty of murder but has been found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.
At the start of the sentencing hearing at The Old Bailey, prosecutor William Emlyn-Jones KC read out a statement on behalf of Sara’s mother Olga Domin.
It read: “You are sadists although even this word is not enough for you. I would say you are executioners. As a result of Sara’s death, I am under constant psychological supervision and I am also taking strong sedatives.”
Domin said that “Sara was always smiling" and "had her own unique character”.
Her mother says she was only able to give Sara the “beautiful Catholic funeral she deserves”.
Sara's father Urfan Sharif, his partner Beinash Batool and his brother Faisal Malik
Surrey PoliceFamily leaving Heathrow airport
Surrey Police
Her mother said that “Sara was always smiling" and "had her own unique character”
Surrey Police
“She is now an angel who looks down from us from heaven. She is no longer experiencing violence,” she said.
Batool appeared in the dock wearing a black suit, Malik wore a grey jumper and Urfan was seated wearing a grey cardigan.
Three members of the jury returned to the Old Bailey to watch the sentencing.
Justice Cavanagh summarised what happened during the trial, which he did in great detail.
Describing her as a “brave and feisty child,” the judge said that Sara stood up to her abusers.
“Sara was a normal child of her age. The beatings began when she was six or seven. She never did anything that might … justify the treatment she endured."
Cavanagh said that the medical evidence reviewed at the trial was “harrowing.”
“This poor child was battered with great force again and again.”
He said that some of the injuries deserve “special mention”, such as the broken hyoid bone in Sara’s neck, caused by very vigorous strangulation, and the burns to Sara’s buttocks.
“I am sure that Sharif and Batool jointly inflicted this injury.”
The young girl endured two years of a 'campaign of abuse'
Surrey Police
A bat used to hit Sara
Surrey Police
A pole used to hit Sara
Surrey Police
The young girl endured two years of a “campaign of abuse”, which saw her father subject her to brutal violence, throttling her and beating her with a cricket bat and metal pole, and even binding her hands and legs with parcel tape at times.
Sara was forced to wear makeshift hoods during attacks, and Sharif encouraged another child to hit her “like a punchbag” as if it were a game.
His partner Batool, 30, would often call Sharif back from work when his daughter was “being naughty”, knowing he would beat her.
In the final months of her life, Sara was forced to wear a hijab to hide her injuries from the “appalling” violence she was subjected to by her family members.
Jurors had previously been told that it was “unusual” that Sara was the only person in her extended family to wear a hijab, which the prosecution alleged was worn to conceal the wounds to her face and head.
Following her death, the three fled to Pakistan and became the focus of an international manhunt, before they eventually returned to the UK in September last year. They were arrested minutes after their plane touched down at Gatwick Airport.
Her mother, Olga Domin, remembered her daughter as an “angelic” child, saying: “She was always laughing, smiling.”
“She loved all the kids. She was always helping, and making videos. She was an amazing child.”