Police found a handwritten note at the home of schoolgirl Sara Sharif which names her alleged killer.
The Mail can reveal that the note claims the ten-year-old was ‘beaten’ to death by an assailant, known to her family, at their house near Woking in Surrey.
The note – scribbled in large letters on lined paper – was written by a family member and starts: ‘Who ever sees this, it was XXXX who killed… (Sara)… by beating. I am running away because I am scared.’
It is thought to have been left for police to find and contradicts claims made by extended family in Pakistan that the little girl fell down the stairs and broke her neck.
Surrey Police found the note near Sara’s body, which was half-hidden under a blanket, after being called to the home in the morning of August 10. They declined to comment last night.
The uncle of ten-year-old Sara Sharif (pictured) who was tragically found dead in a house in Woking has reportedly told police she ‘fell down the stairs and broke her neck’
Pictures show the home of Sara Sharif in Woking, where the 10-year-old girl was found dead
Sara’s natural father, taxi driver Urfan Sharif (pictured), 41, flew to Islamabad with his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother, Faisal Mali, 28, before they could be questioned about her death
Officers have confirmed that three adult family members travelled to Pakistan the day before she was discovered.
Sara’s natural father, taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 41, flew to Islamabad with his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother, Faisal Mali, 28, before they could be questioned about her death. They were accompanied by five children, aged between one and 13, who were Sara’s full and half siblings.
Police in Surrey were alerted about Sara’s death in a 999 call from Sharif on his arrival in Pakistan. They said a post-mortem examination revealed that Sara suffered ‘multiple and extensive injuries’, which they said were ‘likely to have been caused over a sustained and extended period of time’.
Sharif and the family have gone missing and a manhunt in Pakistan is under way.
His brother, Imran, who lives in Pakistan, has been detained by police but not been charged with any offence. Islamabad police sources say he is helping them with inquiries into the family’s whereabouts.
Imran, according to a Sky News report, told officers: ‘Beinash was at home with the children. Sara fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Stepmother Beinash panicked and phoned her father, Irfan.’ Sara’s natural mother, Olga Sharif, told The Sun that the claims were ‘lies’.
‘If there was an accident, you don’t leave the country in secret,’ she said. A Polish uncle of Sara from her mother’s side of the family told the Mail that police must catch ‘the scumbag who killed my niece’.
Police were called to the family home when Sara lived with Olga before her divorce from Sharif some years ago.
The Polish uncle said: ‘After Sara was born, they had some financial troubles. We knew there was a conflict between Olga and Urfan.
At some point, he threatened her, saying if she kept getting on his nerves… she would be found dead somewhere.’
The conflict is thought to have been sparked over Sara’s religious upbringing. Her mother was a Catholic and her father a Muslim.
Sara Sharif’s Polish uncle shared photos of his niece with the MailOnline
Urfan Sharif (left) fled the UK with his partner Beinash Batool (centre), brother Faisal Malik (right). They are wanted for questioning over Sara’s murder
‘Olga wanted the child to be given a choice. She completely lost contact with her daughter at the end of 2021,’ the uncle said. ‘Olga contacted social services but did not receive any help.’
He said the bruising to Sara’s body was so extensive that Olga could not recognise her daughter when asked to formally identity her. Instead, forensic teams used DNA.
The BBC reported yesterday that a neighbour had been told by Sara’s stepmother that the girl was being home-schooled after being bullied for wearing a hijab.
‘I suggested to Beinash that Sara needed to be with children her own age,’ the neighbour said.
‘She replied that Sara was making friends at the mosque and in her swimming lessons.’ The neighbour said Sara seemed ‘reserved and quiet’, adding: ‘I never saw her smile or laugh.’
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