Sara Sharif: Five children recovered by police at grandfather’s home in Pakistan
Five children who travelled from the UK to Pakistan with Sara Sharif’s father have been recovered from her grandfather’s home in the city of Jhelum, police have told Sky News.
Police added they are now “hopeful” they can locate Sara‘s father Urfan and her stepmother Beinash Batool.
The address is where police believe they had been hiding.
Sara, 10, was found dead at her home in Woking, Surrey, last month, prompting UK police to launch a murder investigation.
A post mortem revealed she had suffered “multiple and extensive” injuries.
Mr Sharif, 41, Ms Batool, 29 and his brother Faisal Shahzad Malik, 28, are all believed to have travelled from the UK to Pakistan the day before her body was found.
They are understood to have travelled with the five children, aged between one and 13.
Surrey police have said the welfare of the children was a “priority”.
In a video shared with Sky News last week, Ms Batool said the family is willing to cooperate with British authorities and “fight our case in court.”
She denied media reports that Mr Sharif’s brother Imran had claimed Sara fell down the stairs, saying that was spread through a Pakistani media outlet.
“Our family in Pakistan are severely affected by all that is going on,” she added.
Ms Batool also expressed concern for the family’s safety saying they had been forced into “hiding”.
“The kids are unable to attend school as they’re afraid to leave the house. No one is leaving the house,” she said.
“The groceries have run out and there is no food for the kids as the adults are unable to leave their homes out of fear for safety.”
In an interview with the Polish television programme “Uwaga!”, Sara’s mother, Olga Sharif, shared the distressing account of her visit to see her daughter’s remains.
She said: “One of her cheeks was swollen and the other side was bruised.
“Even now, when I close my eyes I can see what my baby looked like.”
Ms Sharif and her husband separated in 2015, and Sara, along with her older brother, lived with her until 2019, when a family court determined they should reside with their father.
While she retained equal rights to visit her children, Ms Sharif said she found it increasingly challenging to maintain those rights as time went on.
Meanwhile, Sara’s grandfather Muhammad Sharif previously told the BBC that the child’s death was an “accident” and three family members who left the UK for Pakistan will “ultimately” return to face police questioning.
He added that he saw Sara’s father soon after he arrived in the city of Jhelum, in the South Asian country, and said his son had fled the UK out of “fear”.
Surrey Police are appealing for information to help get a better understanding of Sara’s life.