‘Multiple and Extensive Injuries’ Found on Dead 10-Year-Old Amid Interpol Manhunt for Father

Undated police handout photo of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old who was found dead in what is believed to be her home in Woking, Surrey, on Aug. 10, 2023. (Surrey Police)

A 10-year-old girl found dead in Woking on Aug. 10 had suffered “multiple and extensive injuries” that were likely caused over time, the police have revealed.

Surrey police formally identified the girl on Friday as Sara Sharif and appealed for information in a bid to “piece together a picture” of her lifestyle.

They also confirmed the identities of three people wanted for questioning, who are believed to have left the UK for Pakistan hours before the girl was found.

They are the girl’s 41-year-old father Urfan Sharif, his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother, Faisal Malik, 28.

According to Surrey police, officers went to an address in Hammond Road, Woking, “following a concern for safety” after a man who self-identified as Sara’s father called 999 from Pakistan at around 2:50 a.m. on Aug. 10.

Upon arrival, officers found Sara dead inside the property, which is believed to be her home.

After Sara’s death, neighbours told media outlets that the family had moved into the £550,000 semi-detached house around five months ago.

Surrey Police officers outside a property on Hammond Road in Woking, Surrey, on Aug. 11, 2023, one day after a 10-year-old girl was found dead in the property. (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The police launched a murder investigation after finding the body and began an international search for Mr. Sharif, Ms. Batool, and Mr. Malik.

A post-mortem exam was carried out on Tuesday although further tests are needed to determine the cause of death. The police said there’s no timeframe for how long these tests will take.

But the exam has revealed that “Sara had suffered multiple and extensive injuries, which are likely to have been caused over a sustained and extended period of time,” the police said.

Det. Supt. Mark Chapman from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police Major Crime Team said the finding has “significantly changed” the nature of the investigation.

“We have widened the timescale of the focus of our inquiry,” he said.

Det. Supt. Chapman appealed to “anyone who knew Sara” or had “any form of contact with her” to talk to the police “as soon as possible” to help “piece together a picture of Sara’s lifestyle.”

Police handout photos of Urfan Sharif (L) and his partner Beinash Batool, who are wanted for questioning in relation to the suspected murder of Sharif's daughter, 10-year-old Sara Sharif. (Surrey Police)

The police said specialist officers are supporting Sara’s mother.

Sara’s mother and Mr. Sharif’s ex-wife, Olga Sharif, a 36-year-old Somerset resident from Poland, was on her way to Poland in a vehicle when police called and told her about Sara’s death, and she travelled six hours to get back to the UK, according to The Sun.

Ms. Sharif told the Daily Mail that she was married to Mr. Sharif between 2009 and 2017 and a court gave her ex-husband full custody of Sara and her brother in 2019.

The mother claimed she was since allowed to see Sara twice and stopped getting Sara’s photo in 2021 after getting into an argument with Mr. Sharif’s new partner, Ms. Batool, The Sun reported.

Ms. Sharif, who’s from a Catholic background, also told the tabloid that her ex-husband wanted the kids to be muslims, but she insisted they should learn both religions and choose later for themselves.

No Extradition Treaty

Det. Supt. Chapman said the trio is believed to have travelled to Islamabad the day before Sara was found, and that they travelled with five children aged between one and 13 years old.

According to Nadeem Riaz, the owner of a local money transfer business who also provides ticket booking services, Mr. Sharif got in touch with him at around 10 p.m. on Aug. 8 asking to book tickets “as soon as possible.”

Mr. Sharif told Mr. Riaz that he was in a hurry because his cousin had passed away and that he wanted one-way tickets instead of return ones, Mr. Riaz told The Epoch Times.

Mr. Riaz said a travel agency provided the option of travelling at 9 a.m. or 2 p.m. on Aug. 9 and Mr. Sharif opted for the 2 p.m. flight for three adults and five children.

According to Mr. Riaz, who has known Mr. Sharif as a client for the past 10 to 12 years, Urfan and Olga Sharif used to live near his shop, which is around 2 miles away from his current address.

But the “shocked” travel agent said he’s not familiar enough with the client to know how many children he had when he was booking tickets.

Surrey police said they are “continuing to work with international agencies, including Interpol, the National Crime Agency, and the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office” to progress their enquiries with the Pakistani authorities in their search for Mr. Sharif, Ms. Batool, and Mr. Malik.

There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan, but Det. Supt. Chapman noted that people have been extradited from the Asian country before.

In 2017, Zafar Iqbal was extradited from Pakistan 16 years after he murdered his wife in London.

Mr. Iqbal fled in 2001 after strangling his wife to death at her London home in front of their three daughters—two 10-year-olds and one 3-year-old—and threatened to do the same to the older girls if they didn’t stop crying because his wife was filing for divorce over domestic violence.

He was arrested in Pakistan in December 2017, extradited to the UK four years later, and jailed in December last year when he was 62, with a minimum term of 19 years.