Sara Sharif’s father and stepmother are facing life in prison after being found guilty of murdering the 10-year-old girl at the culmination of a horrifying campaign of domestic abuse.
Urfan Sharif, 42, oversaw a “culture of violent discipline” within the family, and confessed during his trial to attacks on Sara with a metal pole and a cricket bat.
When the little girl was found dead by police, tucked into an upstairs bunkbed, there were signs on her body of human bite marks, iron burns, and a litany of broken bones.
The Old Bailey heard Sara had at times been tied up with tape and a hood was placed over her head, during prolonged periods of so-called ‘punishment’ which amounted to torture.
Sharif, a taxi driver, fled with his family to Pakistan after Sara’s death on August 8, leaving behind a note confessing that he had “killed my daughter”.
Two days later, he phoned police from Islamabad to give a detailed account, telling the call operator: “I’ve killed my daughter. I legally punished her, and she died.”
At trial, Sharif branded his own wife Beinash Batool, 30, “evil” and told jurors she had been responsible for violence within the home, before he dramatically confessed his guilt to the jury mid-way through his evidence.
In incredible scenes in front of the jury, Sharif said he “took full responsibility” and admitted the appalling violence he had meted out to his daughter.
He appeared poised to plead guilty to murder but cowardly refused to take the step.
A jury returned its verdicts on Wednesday, finding Sharif and Batool guilty of murder.
Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was cleared of murder but found guilty of causing or allowing her death.
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