Sara Sharif’s mum pays poignant tribute to girl, 10, who could ‘brighten the darkest room’ as stepmum & dad found guilty
SARA Sharif’s mum has paid tribute to her “beautiful” daughter after she was murdered by her dad and stepmum.
The schoolgirl, 10, endured a horrid two-year campaign of heinous torture before she was bludgeoned to death with a cricket bat.
She was found dead in a bunk bed at her home in Woking, Surrey, in August last year.
Her mum today paid tribute as Sara’s dad and stepmum were found guilty of her murder.
Olga Sharif said: “My dear Sara, I ask God to please take care of my little girl, she was taken too soon.
“Sara had beautiful brown eyes and an angelic voice. Sara’s smile could brighten up the darkest room.
“Everyone who knew Sara will know her unique character, her beautiful smile and loud laugh.
“She will always be in our hearts, her laughter will bring warmth to our lives. We miss Sara very much. Love you Princess.”
It comes after Sara’s dad Urfan Sharif and stepmum Beinash Batool were today convicted of her murder.
Urfan’s brother and Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of causing or allowing her death by a jury at the Old Bailey.
They will be sentenced at the same court on Tuesday.
A trial earlier heard devastating details of how Sara had been hooded, burned, bitten and beaten before her death.
The schoolgirl had suffered at least 71 external injuries when she was found dead at home on August 10 last year.
Sharif, 42, his wife Batool, 30, and brother Faisal Malik, 29, were then at the centre of a global manhunt when they fled the UK after her death.
After arriving in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sharif called police to confess his daughter was dead after he had beaten her up “too much”.
They were each arrested after arriving back at Gatwick Airport after five weeks on the run.
Their subsequent trial heard how “suffered dreadfully” and was burned with an iron, bitten and had a bag taped over head before she was found dead.
The schoolgirl was made to wear a hijab to conceal her injuries, which neighbours found “unusual” as she was the only family member to wear one.
Packing tape was used to tie the terrified schoolgirl to a radiator and she was made to wear a nappy.
This violence reached a fatal head on August 8 when Sara was battered to death with a cricket bat.
She was then taken into the garden, stripped of her dirty leggings and nappy and cleaned with a jetwash.
When police arrived, the found a chilling note by the schoolgirl that read: “I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it.”
The defendants pleaded not guilty to murder and to causing or allowing the death of a child between December 16, 2022, and August 9, 2023.
But the dad and stepmum were convicted of murder and uncle found guilty of causing or allowing her death today.
Libby Clark, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Sara was a happy, outgoing and lively child described as always laughing, who was cruelly abused and murdered by those closest to her.
“None of us can imagine how appalling and brutal Sara’s treatment was in the last few weeks of her short life. The injuries inflicted on her were absolutely horrendous.
“We were able to build a strong case, showing where each defendant was in the weeks running up to Sara’s death using mobile phone evidence, CCTV sightings and work records.
“In a small house with such a big family, it would have been immediately obvious to all the adults what was happening to Sara. Yet none of them took any action to stop it or report it.
“They all played their part in the violence that led to her tragic death.
“We have today secured justice for Sara, a bubbly young girl, who was killed by the adults who should have protected her.”