Sara Sharif's dad claims 'crazy' wife killed daughter and forced him to jump out window

Urfan Sharif, on trial for the murder of his daughter Sara, told the Old Bailey today how his wife Beinash Batool was "very, very crazy" and would physically attack him in their Woking home

Sara Sharif’s father has denied beating his daughter and instead claimed he was the victim at the hands of his “very, very crazy” wife.

Urfan Sharif, 42, his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and brother Faisal Malik, 29, are on trial at the Old Bailey accused of the 10-year-old’s murder on August 8 last year. Giving evidence at the trial today, Sharif denied Batool’s claims in WhatsApp messages to her sisters that he had beaten Sara up “like crazy” over at least two years.

Instead, he claimed Batool was “"very, very crazy", that she had abused him and forced him to jump out of a window to escape. Asked about their relationship, he said: “It's never been good. We always had issues between me and her and we were only living together because of the family.

“Everything happened at home while I was at work. I did not beat her (Sara), do anything to her. I used to jump through the kitchen window as she would lock the front door. Most of the time when she was angry I jumped through the living room window."

Jurors were shown two video clips from Sharif's Google drive allegedly filmed as evidence of Batool's abusive behaviour towards him. One of the clips shown was made in 2016 after Batool accused him of flirting with a hospital nurse and began "physically abusing" him. In the video, Sharif could be heard saying: "You are pushing me. You are abusing me. Get off me. You are hitting me. I'm going to use this as evidence I'm telling you now."

Batool repeatedly demanded he stop filming saying: "I ain't scared of you." On what the video showed, Sharif told jurors: "She kicked me. I ran to the other room, she is standing in front of the door so I cannot leave."

In a second video dated June 26 2019, Sharif was heard to repeatedly ask Batool to "let me go" before jumping out of a window.

Sharif told jurors Batool "slapped" him adding: "You have a choice either to fight with that person or leave. I tried to leave but she locked the front door. I jumped through the kitchen window."

Asked why he recorded the incidents, Sharif said that he did it "so she leave me alone" and "stop what she was doing". He added she was "very, very crazy", did not "care about anything at all", and her family told him "someone has done black magic on her".

Sara was found dead in bed at her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10 2023 after Sharif called police from Pakistan to report he had beaten her "too much".

A post-mortem examination found dozens of injuries, including burns and human bite marks.

Defence barrister Naeem Mian KC observed there was nothing in any of Batool's WhatsApp messages alleging Sharif had burnt his daughter, put a hood on her or hit her with a cricket bat or pole.

The defendants, formerly of Hammond Road, Woking, have denied murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between December 16 2022 and August 9 2023.

The trial continues.