Father of Sara Sharif says his wife is ‘an animal’ and a ‘psycho’
The father of murdered schoolgirl Sara Sharif told a court his wife bit his daughter ‘like an animal.’
Urfan Sharif, 42, pointed at his wife in the dock today and said he never knew that he was ’living with evil and psycho’.
Sara, 10, was found dead at her home in Hammond Road, Woking, on 10 August 2023.
Urfan denies murder and causing or allowing the death of a child alongside his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and Sara’s uncle, 29-year-old McDonald’s worker Faisal Malik.
The schoolgirl had at least 71 external injuries inflicted on her and was tortured and regularly beaten in the months before she died, the Old Bailey has heard.
Giving evidence at the Old Bailey today (thurs) Urfan said he would prove his wife was the ‘psycho’ who bit his daughter ‘like an animal.’
Urfan told the court he would work from 6am in the morning before returning for a brief nap around 1pm and going out again until 1am in the morning.
His barrister Naeem Mian, KC, said: ‘When you came home at the end of a 14 or 15 hour day would you ever go into Sara’s room and beat the crap out of her?’
Urfan replied: ‘No sir.’
Mr Mian asked if he would beat her up because Batool said she had been misbehaving.
‘No sir. That poor girl was always being accused by that psycho sitting there, that psycho over there, she always accused my daughter.’
Urfan pointed at his wife sitting in the dock.
‘And nothing happened when I was at home.
‘She told me my daughter was doing everything to make her life hell.
‘All the time she would accuse Sara.
’I should not have believed her, I never knew that I was living with evil and psycho.
He said that on one occasion he slapped Sara after being told she misbehaved but he would never beat her.
He said: ’I will prove that the one who’s sitting there, who is showing us that she was very good, I will show what kind of life she gave to my kids at that time.’
‘According to her you’re the psycho,’ Mr Mian said.
‘No. Did I bite my Sara? Did I burn my Sara? I didn’t. I gave you a dental impression to find out who the person who bit my daughter like an animal.
‘I didn’t do it, Faisal didn’t do it, who else was at home?’
Jurors heard that Urfan and Malik provided dental impressions to police to prove that they were not responsible for bite marks found on Sara.
Batool refused to provide dental impressions.
Urfan said that Sara had wanted to start wearing a hijab because she wanted to look like Batool’s sisters who wore them.
He said no one in his family wore a hijab and Batool would always put the hijab on Sara as he did not know how to.
Urfan said that in the last few years of Sara’s life he was told by Batool he should stop giving her baths because she was growing up and he agreed.
‘Are you sure you’re not just making that up because if you make that up then you can say “I didn’t see any bruises?’ Mr Mian asked.
‘No sir,’ Urfan replied.
Jurors heard that Sara was burned on her bottom with an iron.
Urfan said that Batool also told him that Sara was struggling to control her bladder so needed to wear a nappy.
‘Aren’t you making that up because you burnt Sara so badly she wasn’t able to sit down?’ Mr Mian said.
‘No sir,’ Urfan replied.
‘With an iron?’ Mr Mian said.
‘I didn’t iron at home. I never iron,’ Urfan said.
Asked who would do the ironing Urfan said it was Batool.
He said that Sara would do household chores such as taking the laundry out and doing the dishes but not ironing as that was dangerous.
Urfan said: ’She even washed the dishes on the day she passed away, she even put the laundry in the machine the day she passed away.’
He said he did not notice Sara had any mobility issues in the days before she died.
‘She was playing, she was going up and down.’
Batool had 12 rolls of parcel tape delivered to the house by Amazon on 20 July 2023.
Urfan said he did not know why she ordered parcel tape as they had lots of parcel tape from when they moved house.
He said he would often buy Batool, who accuses him of abusing her, expensive gifts including thousands of pounds worth of gold jewellery.
In July 2021 he bought her £5,600 worth of gold jewellery for her birthday, £5,262 worth in 2022 and £7,500 worth in July 2023.
After the killing Sharif, Batool and Malik fled to Pakistan, leaving Sara’s body in the three bedroom house in Woking.
The family returned from Pakistan on September 13 last year and were arrested at Gatwick Airport having flown back from Dubai.
Sara was found to have ten spinal fractures and further fractures to her right collar bone, both shoulder blades, both arms, both hands, three separate fingers, bones near the wrist in each hand, two ribs and her hyoid bone in the neck.
Sharif, Batool and Malik, all deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.
