Sara Sharif's father accused of murder tells jury his world was 'destroyed' when he realized his daughter was dead

The murder accused father of 10-year-old Sara Sharif told a jury his world was “destroyed” when he realized his daughter was dead after he told her his wife was just being “dramatic” with him.

Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, told jurors that he found his daughter unconscious after his wife, Beinash Batool, called him home from work on the evening of August 8 last year.

Sharif is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of Sara’s murder, along with Sara’s 30-year-old stepmother Batool and her 29-year-old uncle Faisal Malik.

Describing the moment he held Sara’s lifeless body in his arms, the actor told the jury members: “I was numb. My world collapsed, the whole world collapsed on me.”

Giving evidence on Friday, the Sheriff said Sara was “limp” on Batool’s lap in his bedroom when he returned to their home in Woking, Surrey.

The court was told his wife claimed Sara was being “dramatic” after falling down the stairs and “pretending not to get up” after being “silly” with another child.

Sharif said: “I touched her face, asked Sara to get up but she didn’t, so I took Sara from Batool’s lap and hit her again.

“He opened his eyes, said he was thirsty, needed water and felt sleepy.”

He said he shouted for water and his wife gave him some, but Sara, who was found to have dozens of injuries during an autopsy, including iron burns, human bite marks and restraint marks, did not drink the water. .

“He didn’t wake up, he was sleeping,” the sheriff said.

The sheriff continued: “I called an ambulance because I couldn’t hear his breathing. I checked his pulse, but there was no pulse.

“I started giving him CPR. I was numb, like now. I was shocked.”

About 10 minutes later, the Sheriff said he asked Batool where the ambulance was, but he said “there’s no need because he’s dead.”

He told jurors he did not call emergency services himself because Batool “snatched” the phone from him and said he had to protect the family.

The defendant said he was “shocked” when he saw a red mark on Sara before Batool revealed that the other boy had beaten and branded her.

The sheriff said he wrote a letter confessing to killing his daughter and left it next to Sara’s body so he could take the blame.

But he said it was Batool who instructed him to say in the note that he had “lost her”.

Later that night, plane tickets were booked for the family to go to Pakistan the next day.

Police found Sara’s body after Sharif called from Islamabad on August 10.

The defendants were detained when they returned to England on September 13 last year.

They deny murder and causing or permitting the death of a child between 16 December 2022 and 9 August 2023.

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