Sara Sharif 'forced to do sit-ups all night' by dad who told stepmum to 'cover bruises with makeup'

The Old Bailey heard today how 10-year-old Sara was punished for "naughty" behaviour such as hiding her dad's keys, with her relatives accused of carrying out a campaign of physical abuse

Sara Sharif’s father forced his daughter to do sit ups all night as a punishment for hiding his keys, while her step mother was told to cover up her abuse with make-up, a court heard.

The 10-year-old was found dead in her home on August 8 last year. Beinash Batool, 30, Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 42, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, are accused of carrying out a campaign of abuse. Batool and Sharif have blamed each other for the violence in the family home in Woking, Surrey, with university student Malik claiming he was not involved.

Today, jurors at the Old Bailey were read a series of grim WhatsApp messages between 2020 and 2023 in which Batool described to her sister Qandeela Saboohi the beatings the girl endured. Batool repeatedly complained to her sister Sharif was hitting Sara for being “naughty” “rude and rebellious” and because she had cut up his clothes, hidden keys and torn up documents.

Batool said Sara had cut her father’s clothes for being mean and Sharif was “punishing her” by making her stay up all night doing “sit-ups”. In May 2021, Batool told Ms Saboohi: “Not great in our house, it’s all a bit manic. Urfan beat the crap out of Sara and my mind is all in bits. I really want to report him.

“Why the hell doesn’t Urfan learn – she’s covered in bruises, literally beaten black.”

Afterwards, Sharif sat “on his fat bum” and played the board game Ludo, she said. She went on: “Why the hell I’m even letting him in the house. I’m sorry for Sara, poor girl cannot walk. She literally fainted in the kitchen in the morning. He made her do sit-ups all night.”

Asked what Sara had done, Batool said: “Because she hid the keys.”

By 2022, Batool said she was planning on taking “legal advice” but was advised by her sister to give it time and not rush. Batool wrote Sharif had woken Sara up to hit her because her “bad behaviour” got him “randomly” angry.

In February, she wrote Sara was vomiting “randomly” and she could not breathe. Later that year, Batool said she was considering taking Sara out of school, saying: “I don’t want to but kinda don’t have a choice. It’s not hard home schooling. I’m just fed up of her behaviour and Urfan’s.

“Sara’s body is literally bruised because Urfan beat her up. I cannot even cover it up. He beat Sara up yesterday and I can’t send her to school on Monday looking like that.

Days later, she said Sara’s school was worried about her and Sharif was “stressed” about it.

In apparent reference to Sara’s injuries, she wrote: “Urfan told me to cover it up with makeup and she’s going to wear sunglasses.”

Two months before Sara died, Batool referred to “Sara’s antics”, telling her sister: “Urfan beat the crap out of Sara … Yeah, he beat her up like crazy. Her oxygen level dropped really low, she’s finding it hard to stay awake.”

Asked if Sharif had hit her on the head, Batool said: “Nah but she’s breathing really rapidly.”

The day before Sara died, Ms Saboohi tried to make contact but Batool told her she was “not in the mood to speak”. Two days later, the defendants were captured on CCTV as they prepared to board a flight to Pakistan from Heathrow Airport.

Last August 10, police found Sara’s body in a bunkbed after Sharif called from Pakistan to say he had beaten Sara up “too much” for “being naughty”.

Jurors have heard she suffered dozens of injuries, including burns and suspected human bite marks.

Previously, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC told jurors it was in dispute whether messages Batool sent two of her sisters were accurate or gave a full picture.

All three 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 Old Bailey trial was adjourned until Friday.