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The father of Sara Sharif forced his daughter to do sit-ups all night because she hid his keys, a court heard.
The 10-year-old was discovered dead with burns, bite marks and fractured bones on a bunk bed at her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10 last year.
In court on Thursday, new details of the “campaign of abuse” she allegedly suffered before her death emerged in WhatsApp messages sent by Beinash Batool, her stepmother.
Before her death, Sara was allegedly beaten with a cricket bat, burned with an iron and restrained while having a “homemade hood” placed over her head.
Jurors at the Old Bailey were shown dozens of texts, from the beginning of 2020 until Sara’s death, exchanged between Batool and her sister Qandeela.
On December 21, Batool told her sibling that her husband had been beating Sara and “did not think of the consequences” of what would happen if the schoolgirl told someone.
She said: “If she tells that Urfan hits her like crazy and all the bruises he will live to regret [it].”
Sara Sharif was discovered dead with burns, bite marks and fractured bones on a bunk bed at her home last year. Photo / Surrey Police
Batool said she “literally had to push Urfan out of the way to save Sara” on one occasion.
On May 8, 2021, Batool said Sharif was “beating Sara like crazy” and was “literally going to break her arm or her leg”.
She said she had “no idea what to do” and that after the beating he punished her by forcing her to stand in a room with her hands in the air.
The next day she told her sister she “really wanted to report” her husband because if anyone found out about the beatings, “I’ll lose all the kids”.
The court heard her sister responded: “Why doesn’t [Sara] learn?”
Batool replied: “Why the hell doesn’t Urfan learn? She is covered in bruises literally beaten black.”
She added: “I feel really sorry for Sara poor girl can’t walk. She literally fainted in the kitchen this morning. He made her do sit ups all night. It’s been so crazy man you don’t understand.”
When asked why Sharif had punished Sara, Batool replied: “Because she hid the keys.”
Just under a year later, on February 11, 2022, Batool said Sharif had woken Sara up at 1.30am to beat her because he “got randomly angry” about her behaviour.
William Emlyn Jones KC, prosecuting, previously suggested to the court that Batool was presenting herself in a “favourable light” to her sister and never reported her husband to the authorities.
In June 2022, Batool told her sister they were thinking of homeschooling Sara.
Urfan Sharif. Photo / Surrey Police
When her sister said that was not a good idea, she replied that “it is our right”, adding: “She has got way too much bruises and stuff and homeschooling isn’t that hard.”
Batool sent pictures of bruising on Sara’s face to her sister on June 14, 2022.
After seeing the images, her sibling replied: “What the actual hell. Tell Urfan to sort himself out before I report him.”
Batool replied: “You haven’t even seen her body. It’s a whole lot worse.”
That same day, Batool told her sister Sharif had become panicked after being called in to a meeting with Sara’s school.
She said Sharif had told her to cover up Sara’s bruising with makeup and said he was going to force her to wear sunglasses.
In December 2022, Batool told her sister Sharif had beaten his daughter again and she was in “a lot of pain”.
She claimed she tried to put ice on Sara’s injuries but Sharif “did not agree”.
Less than three months before she was killed, on May 25, 2023, Batool told her sister Sharif had “beat the crap out of Sara” and she was “breathing really rapidly”.
Batool’s sister blocked her on WhatsApp on August 11, 2023, the day after Sara’s body was found, the court heard.
Jurors were also shown footage of the family leaving the country after Sara was killed.
