Sara Sharif: Grandfather of girl, 10, found dead pleads for fugitive father to ‘give himself up’
Muhammad Sharif called for his son and daughter-in-law to ‘present themselves to the police’
The grandfather of a 10-year-old girl who was found dead last month has urged her fugitive father to “cooperate with the police and face the law” as an international manhunt continues.
Sara Sharif’s father, Urfan Sharif, and her stepmother, Benaish Batool, travelled to Pakistan the day before her body was discovered at their home in Woking on 10 August.
In a new video, Mr Sharif’s father Muhammed Sharif called on his son and daughter-in-law to “present themselves to the police and tell them the truth”.
”If they have more details they need to share (them) with the police,” he said.
“Sharing the truth is their fundamental right, it is not possible to hide things. The more details they share, the better for them.”
He added: “No, he (Urfan) did not share any details with me, only that an incident occurred, that’s it.”
His latest plea comes after the couple shared their own video in which Ms Batool described Sara’s death as “an incident” without providing additional details.
Over the course of the two-minute video, she read from a notebook while Sara’s father remained silent throughout.
She denied the claims that the schoolgirl “fell down the stairs and broke her neck” which was supposedly spread through a Pakistani media outlet, and stated that their family members have “gone into hiding”.
Local police have raided 20 properties in their search for Sara’s family, with Sky News reporting that the raids were concentrated around the cities of Mirpur and Jhelum.
In the video, Ms Batool said: “Firstly I would like to talk about Sara. Sara’s death was an incident. Our family in Pakistan is severely affected by all that is going on.
“All the media have been given wrong statements...Imran [one of Mr Sharif’s brothers] did not give a statement that Sara fell down the stairs and broke her neck. This was spread through a Pakistani media outlet.
“All of our family members have gone into hiding as everyone is scared for their safety. The kids are unable to attend school as they are afraid to leave the house. No one is leaving the house.
“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 of safety. That is why we have gone into hiding.”
She added that they were willing to cooperate with the UK authorities and were prepared to “fight our case in court”.
Sara’s body was discovered during the early hours of the morning after her father made a 999 to Surrey Police from Pakistan. He and Ms Batool, alongside his brother Faisal Malik, 28, are understood to have boarded a flight to Islamabad the previous day.
They travelled with five children between the ages of one and 13 years old.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Sara had suffered “multiple and extensive injuries” over a “sustained and extended” period of time.
She had been known to local authorities and had been living with her father and his partner after a ruling made in 2019 by the family court.
Sara’s mother Olga Sharif appeared on the Polish television programme Uwaga! earlier this week and spoke of her agony at identifying her daughter’s body after her death.
“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,” she said.
Surrey Police continue to appeal for information and have distributed leaflets and displayed posters in and around Woking train station and taxi ranks around the town.
In their latest statement, they said they were continuing to work alongside Interpol, the National Crime Agency and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to progress enquiries with Pakistani authorities.