Sara Sharif: Death of girl, 10, an accident according to father, says grandfather

Muhammad Sharif told the BBC he saw his son Urfan Sharif, Sara’s father, soon after he arrived in Jhelum and said he had fled the UK out of ‘fear’
Sara Sharif (Surrey Police/PA)
PA Media
Scott d'Arcy5 September 2023

Ten-year-old Sara Sharif’s death was an “accident” and three family members who left the UK for Pakistan will “ultimately” return to face police questioning, her grandfather has said.

Muhammad Sharif told the BBC he saw his son Urfan Sharif, Sara’s father, soon after he arrived in the city of Jhelum, in the South Asian country, and said he had fled the UK out of “fear”.

Mr Sharif, 41, his partner, Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother, Faisal Malik, 28, are thought to have travelled to Islamabad on August 9 and are wanted for questioning.

They travelled with five children aged between one and 13 years old, Surrey Police said.

Speaking to the BBC, her grandfather joined other family members in Pakistan to appeal for the three to return to the UK.

He said: “It was an accident, he didn’t tell me how it happened.”

Asked why they had fled, he said: “Because of fear.

“His daughter died and when you go under so much trauma, obviously you can’t think properly.”

He urged them to co-operate with the police inquiry, adding he had not seen them recently.

He said: “All I can say is that they should have faced the case. They should have stayed there and faced it instead.

“They will ultimately go back to the UK and face their case.”

Surrey Police are appealing for information to help them piece together a picture of Sara’s lifestyle prior to her death.

Sara’s mother, Olga Sharif, is being supported by specialist officers.

Surrey County Council previously told the PA news agency Sara was known to the local authority.

Authorities in Pakistan are searching for the trio and lawyers in the UK have said the nation’s government is unlikely to block an extradition request in connection to Sara’s death.

There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan but people have been returned from the Asian country before.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in