Stepmum tied Sara Sharif up with tape, jury told
· BBC NewsChristian Fuller & Helena Wilkinson
BBC News, Old Bailey
A stepmother accused of killing Sara Sharif tied the 10-year-old’s hands behind her back with tape for being naughty, a court has heard.
Sara’s body was found with dozens of injuries at the family’s home in Woking, Surrey, last year, the Old Bailey was told.
Her father Urfan Sharif, 42, stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, have denied murder.
Giving evidence, Mr Sharif told jurors he returned home unexpectedly to find a “terrified” Sara with her hands tied with packing tape.
Warning: This article features distressing details
He told the court that Ms Batool was “shocked” to see him home during the incident in late June or early July last year, a matter of weeks before Sara was found dead.
Asked what his wife told him had happened, he said: “Beinash said that, ‘she’d been naughty, so I tied her hands so that she does not hurt herself’."
Asked what his reaction was, Mr Sharif told the court he shouted in anger and helped Sara.
“She was terrified, Sara. She was scared,” he said.
He told jurors Ms Batool apologised to him and said she would not do it again.
“She is very manipulative,” he added.
Mr Sharif also told the court Ms Batool was a “psycho” and “evil”, and that he slapped Sara after Ms Batool told him Sara had injured some of the other children.
He went on to say that Ms Batool would blame Sara "for everything".
“That poor girl always been accused by that psycho sitting there, that psycho sitting there, she always accused my daughter," Mr Sharif said.
“Nothing happened when I was home, she always accused her of every single thing that happened.”
Jurors were told Mr Sharif's case was that Ms Batool was responsible for Sara's death, and he made a false confession in a phone call and also in a note to protect his wife.
Naeem Mian KC, for Mr Sharif, previously told the court that Mr Sharif arrived home to find Sara “limp” on 8 August 2023, before attempting CPR and begging for an ambulance to be called.
“He was told in Urdu or Punjabi, ‘leave it, she’s dead’,” by Ms Batool, Mr Mian KC added.
The court previously heard that Sara was hooded, burned and beaten during more than two years of abuse.
A post-mortem examination found Sara had suffered dozens of injuries including "probable human bite marks", an iron burn and scalding from hot water before she died on 8 August 2023.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC previously said a bloodstained cricket bat, a rolling pin with Sara’s DNA on it, a metal pole, a belt and rope were found near the family’s outhouse.
The court also previously heard Mr Sharif, Ms Batool and Mr Malik travelled to Islamabad, Pakistan, with other family members on 9 August 2023.
Prosecutors said Mr Sharif called police from Pakistan and admitted he killed Sara about an hour after his family’s flight had landed in Islamabad.
The three defendants, who lived with Sara in Woking before her death, are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, which they deny.