A life sentence for Sara Sharif’s father and stepmother. This 10-year-old girl was tortured for several years before being killed in August 2023, southwest of London (United Kingdom). His body was discovered on a bed in the family home, with significant traces of physical violence.
The father, Urban Sharif, 43, was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years in prison. This is the heaviest penalty. The mother-in-law, Beinash Batool, 30, was sentenced to 33 years in prison. The 29-year-old uncle, Faisak Malik, who had lived with the couple for several months, will have to remain in detention for 16 years to have “caused or made possible death” of the little girl. Sentences that reflect “the cruelty and seriousness of the crimes committed”, estimated the prosecution in a press release published after the convictions.
Iron burns, blows with a cricket bat, head trapped in a plastic bag… The court judge described it as “torture” the abuse inflicted on Sara Sharif during the two years preceding her death. The autopsy concluded that Sara Sharif died of complications due to around 100 injuries and neglect, but could not precisely define what led to her death. She noted multiple fractures, bruises and even bite marks. Next to the body, the police found a note left in writing attributed to his father: “Whoever reads this note, it is me, Urban Sharif, who killed my daughter by beating her.”
The day after the girl’s death, the three accused fled to Pakistan with the five other children, before returning without them a month later to the United Kingdom, under pressure from Sharif’s family, according to the judge. That’s when the trio was arrested. The family was known to social services and the school had made three reports. The father ended up announcing in April 2023 that his daughter would be homeschooled after a move.
In a text read during the trial, Olga Domin, Sara Sharif’s mother, described “sadists” the accused: “Even that word isn’t strong enough to qualify you, but I would say you are executioners.” Sara and her older brother had been placed in foster care several times, then returned to their mother, who lives in Poland, before a judge entrusted them to their father in 2019, despite his violent nature.
This affair has caused great concern over the capacity of British society to protect children, going so far as to call out the political world. “The State has failed too many children in recent years, it is clear that we must act,” pleaded Education Minister Bridget Phillipson on Tuesday on the BBC.
