Step-mother of dead British-Pakistani girl 'willing to co-operate with UK police'

Beenish Batool released a video message sitting by the side of her husband and father of Sara, Urfan

(Web Desk) – The step-mother of Sara Sharif who was found dead in her home in Britain has said the family is willing to co-operate with British authorities and "fight our case in court".

Beenish Batool released a video message sitting by the side of her husband and father of Sara, Urfan Sharif, shared with Sky News. She was reading a message from a notebook while Urfan watched her speaking sitting silently.

Surrey police found 10-year-old Sara dead in her in Woking, UK, on Aug 10, while working on a call allegedly by her father Ufran who fled Britain a day ago along with his partner Beenish, brother Faisal Malik and children. A post-mortem revealed that Sara had suffered "multiple and extensive injuries".

In her first message after going into hiding in Pakistan, Beenish claimed that Sara’s death was an “incident”, and alleged that police were harassing the couple’s extended family, illegally detaining them and raiding their homes.

The stepmother of Sara Sharif, the 10-year-old girl found dead at her home last month, has spoken for the first time in a video shared with Sky News and said the family is willing to co-operate with British authorities and "fight our case in court".https://t.co/YPD7bdpwqW pic.twitter.com/CAR1TKGl25

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 6, 2023

She said “Firstly, I would like to talk about Sara. Sara’s death was an incident. Our family in Pakistan are severely affected by all that is going on.”

Beenish criticised Pakistani media for “giving wrong statements and making up lies.

“Imran [one of Urfan’s brothers] did not give a statement that Sara fell down the stairs and broke her neck. This was spread through a Pakistani media outlet. I am very worried about Imran’s safety.”

She claimed the family is running out of food and is unable to leave home. “All of our family members have gone into hiding as everyone is scared for their safety.

“The kids are unable to attend school as they’re afraid to leave the house. No one is leaving the house.”

“The groceries have run out and there is no food for the kids as the adults are unable to leave their homes out of fear for safety.”

Beenish said that the reason the “family is in hiding is because they fear that the Pakistan police will torture and kill them.

However, the police have already rejected the allegations of “harassment and torture of family members”.

Last month, Urfan’s father moved the Lahore High Court against the harassment of his family members. The court barred the police from detaining them again.

SARA’S MOTHER BELIES BEENISH

Olga, the mother of slain girl, in an interview with a Polish channel, said the girl had been so badly injured that she “did not recognise her” in the mortuary.

The mother of Sara Sharif, Olga Sharif, spoke of the harrowing experience of going to view her daughter's body. Find out more: https://t.co/okuGYBE80r pic.twitter.com/6UJnj6ChQs

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 6, 2023

“One of her cheeks was swollen and the other was bruised. Even now, when I close my eyes I can see what my baby looked like,” Olga said.

Her grandmother said in choking voice “it wasn’t Sarah. She was entirely changed and bruised.”