New details have been revealed in connection with the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif during the trial of three people accused of murdering the girl in the UK.
• Also read: United Kingdom: three suspects who fled to Pakistan charged with the murder of a little girl
• Also read: Martyred girl: three people arrested in the United Kingdom
The child’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, his uncle, Faisal Malik, and his father, Urfan Sharif, are undergoing trial which began on Friday in London, the day on which they were formally accused of murder.
Photo by Surrey Police/AFP
They are also accused of having “caused or allowed the death of a child to occur”, according to AFP.
The recording of the call to 999 (British 911) which led to the discovery of the little girl’s inert body was played in front of the jury.
In particular, we can hear the father, already in Pakistan, hundreds of kilometers from his home, claiming that he had killed his daughter, several English media report.
“I punished her legally and she died,” said Mr. Sharif. She wasn’t nice. I beat her, it wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her too much.”
“It was me, Urfan Sharif, who killed my daughter by beating her,” he added. I’m running away because I’m afraid, but I promise that I will turn myself in to the authorities eventually to be punished.”
According to Sky News, Mr. Sharif will dissociate himself from the comments he made, claiming that he said these words to protect his wife, a “violent disciplinarian” of whom he said he was afraid.
The Crown also presented the jury with evidence indicating that the girl suffered injuries several months before her death.
She notably mentioned wearing the hijab in order to hide certain bruises.
Teachers at the primary school she attended reportedly saw some of these injuries before she was removed from the school in favor of home schooling in April 2023.
This story has caused a lot of ink to flow in the United Kingdom and Europe since August 10, 2023, the day on which Sara Sharif’s body was found.
She would have died two days earlier, on August 8.
The autopsy revealed that she had suffered injuries over a long period of time which led to her death.
The three accused deny killing the girl.
The trial continues.
– With information from AFP, Sky News and BBC News
