LONDON: The murder trial of ten-year-old Sara Sharif continued at the Old Bailey on Wednesday revealing gruesome details about her alleged abuse. Evidence for the trial indicated that Sara had more than 70 injuries, which included both external and internal wounds. Her body was found in her family home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10, 2023.
The pathologist, Dr. Nathaniel Cary, testified that the injuries included puncture wounds, burns, bruises, abrasions, and possible human bite marks. Sara had also sustained burns from hot water and injuries that resulted from a domestic iron.
Her father, Urfan Sharif, 42; stepmother Beinash Batool, 30; and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, have also pleaded not guilty to murder. The prosecution presented the evidence as being brutal-from a gaping gash in Sara’s head to signs of blunt trauma several times-but testimony indicated a pattern of prolonged abuse, including fractures of her spine and trauma to her brain.
Evidence that was found close to the family outhouse included a cricket bat which had bloodstain on it and a rolling pin with Sara’s DNA. The other weapons involved during the actual crime included a metal pole, belt, and rope.
The three were accused of kidnapping and murdering Sara. They left for Pakistan with the five siblings of the girl the very day before her body was found. They also face charges of causing or allowing death of a child, to which they pleaded not guilty. The case is still on.