Murder of Sara Sharif

Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl, was murdered by her father Urfan Sharif and stepmother Beinash Batool on 8 August 2023. She was discovered dead in her family's residence in Woking, Surrey, England, two days later. An autopsy revealed that she had been regularly and severely abused. Urfan and Beinash, along with Urfan's brother, Faisal Malik, fled to Pakistan on 9 August, after which Urfan called the police and reported her death. The three became immediate suspects and an international manhunt was launched to find them. They were then captured on 13 September 2023 at Gatwick Airport after voluntarily flying back from Pakistan.
On 11 December 2024, Urfan and Beinash were found guilty of murder and both were sentenced to life imprisonment, while Faisal was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child and was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment. On 1 January 2025, Urfan was attacked in prison with a tuna can lid, sustaining non-life threatening injuries to his face and neck. In January 2025, the Solicitor General's office referred the case to the Court of Appeal, requesting an increase Urfan's sentence under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme, while Urfan and Beinash petitioned the Court of Appeal for a reduction in their sentences; both appeals were denied.
Sara's murder was widely reported on for the brutality of the abuse she previously endured, which raised questions as to why authorities failed to protect her. Prime Minister Keir Starmer commented on the case, calling it "awful" and said that the government would learn from her death. Will Forster, representing Woking in Parliament, proposed an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill titled "Sara's Law", which would facilitate increased communication between social services and schools.
Sara's father is Urfan Sharif, a Pakistani taxi driver who moved to the UK in 2001. Urfan studied at the Army Public School in Jhelum, and a fellow student described him as not having many friends, that Urfan "used to misbehave" and had "different moods" that was hard to understand. His former partner, Angelika, said that he accused her of having an abortion after she suffered a miscarriage, threatened her with a knife, tried to brand her with his initials, and held her captive in his home. After escaping from his flat through a window, she reported Urfan to the police, who arrested and detained him for two days. The two had met when Urfan was her shift manager while she was working at a Burger King restaurant in Woking. After separating, Angelika returned to Poland. Another former partner of Urfan accused him of imprisoning her for five days.
Sara's mother, Olga Domin (formerly Sharif), is Polish. Urfan allegedly met Olga in Poland during a trip to stalk Angelika. Olga has learning difficulties and was considered "vulnerable" by authorities. Urfan impressed Olga's relatives during a visit to Poland, and Olga's father said that he had "never seen a better family", and later said that Urfan was a "great manipulator". Olga's stepmother said that she initially thought that he was a "handsome and well-dressed and car[ed] about his appearance", and later compared him to Tulipan [pl], a Polish serial fraudster famous for seducing and stealing from women. The couple married in 2009 and had a son in 2010. One year into the marriage, Urfan was arrested for assaulting Olga and an unspecified child. Olga allegedly told social services that Urfan tightened a belt around her neck and that he locked her in a room and took her phone. She also said that he once tried to set her on fire and poured oil on her, but her cousin stopped him. Olga's mother said that she knew that Olga was being abused, but did not confront Urfan, fearing that doing so would worsen the abuse.
Sara Sharif was born on 11 January 2013 in Slough, Berkshire. Sara was put under a child protection plan as soon as she was born due to concerns that she was at risk of harm from both of her parents. After a week with her mother in hospital, the newborn Sara was put into foster care, with parental visitation allowed three times a week, and was given back to her parents in September 2013 under supervision. The couple separated in 2015 and later divorced, after which Sara and her brother lived with Olga. In 2019, their custody was awarded to Urfan, after which they lived in Horsell, Woking, with him, his wife Beinash Batool, the couple's four children, and Urfan's brother. Olga said that the reason that she lost custody was that Sara falsely claimed that Olga had hit her.
In September 2013, Olga was arrested for biting one of her children, was charged, and was released on bail. She claimed that it happened while they were playing, but said in 2014 that she did it deliberately and was given a police caution. In 2015, social services investigated the family after Urfan was seen gesturing with a knife at his home, which he said was part of a "zombie game". Social workers observed Urfan assaulting Olga and them both making death threats towards each other.
Olga, who objected to her children being raised Muslim, had little contact with her children during the time they lived in Woking. She initially was allowed to see them often, but her visits became rarer after Batool told her not to visit her children, claiming that they did not desire to see her anymore. According to Olga, "[i]t's not normal that once the children were happy, and arguing about who would talk to Mum first, and then the kids don't even want to talk to me on the phone and are calling me the worst names."
A social worker that supervised visits between Urfan and Sara said that Sara would shout at Urfan to "go away" whenever he came close to her, and another social worker said that she thought Urfan lacked empathy. One of Urfan's children told a social worker that they dislike their father because he assaulted and bruised them. Another social worker said that they saw Sara flinch when Urfan scolded her and that that she was surprised when Urfan embraced her.
Sara was forced to carry out domestic chores for Urfan and Batool, and neighbours told a jury that they had regularly heard Batool verbally abuse her. Batool would call Urfan while he was at work to ask him to come home to punish Sara. Sara was subject to regular beatings that would result in her being tied up with tape and her head covered with a "makeshift hood". Urfan once forced Sara to perform sit-ups the entire night because she had hidden his keys.
Sara began wearing a hijab at school to cover up her bruises and gave multiple conflicting stories at school about how she received her injuries. After she could not explain her injuries to her teachers, the school referred Sara to social services. In April 2023, Sara was taken out of primary school under the ruse of being homeschooled. A neighbour of the Sharifs reported that she heard "constant crying" and "screaming", which had at one point reached "fever pitch" coming from their address. She also said that Batool turned her away after she visited out of concern for the Sharifs' welfare. Another neighbour of the Sharifs said that she heard a young girl scream "in pain" two days before Sara died.
On the day of Sara's death, 8 August 2023, Sara's older brother sent his friend a text message stating that his sister had died. Sara's body was discovered at her residence on Hammond Road, Horsell, during the early hours of 10 August 2023 by a police constable. Urfan left a note addressed to Sara near her body, apologising for her death and asking the reader to bury her in accordance with Islamic funeral traditions. Surrey Police identified Urfan Sharif, his wife Beinash Batool, and his brother Faisal Malik as persons of interest. All three departed from the UK for Islamabad, Pakistan, on 9 August, a day before Sara's body was found.
On 8 August, Urfan messaged ad hoc travel agent Nadeem Riaz, asking for eight one-way aeroplane tickets to Islamabad, Pakistan. Urfan claimed that his cousin had died. Riaz said that he had known Urfan for 11 years prior to the incident, and that he did not notice anything unusual about Urfan. Urfan made a 999 call from Pakistan shortly after he arrived in Islamabad with his wife, brother, and five children. He admitted, "I've killed my daughter," stating, "It wasn't my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much." He told the dispatcher that his actions were intended as punishment, saying, "I'm a cruel father."
On 15 August 2023, a post-mortem was carried out, which discovered that Sara had suffered numerous and severe injuries over an extended period. At the trial, her more than 70 injuries were revealed: these included injuries to her ribs, shoulder blades, fingers and 11 fractures to her spine, a puncture wound to the head, a traumatic brain injury, a burn on her buttock caused by a domestic iron, scalds by hot water, restraint injuries, bruises caused by blunt objects and human bite marks.
The cause of death was determined to be "complications arising from multiple injuries and neglect". A paediatric radiologist providing evidence to the court, stated that Sara had sustained neck injuries that occur "extremely rare[ly]" and that said injuries were likely caused by "manual strangulation with a degree of force above that which we would normally recognise in ligature force – meaning hanging". He said that Sara's spinal fractures were "very rare", and compared them to those usually found in victims of traffic collisions. An osteoarticular pathologist giving evidence to the court said that she had hyoid bone and wrist fractures, both of which were determined to be caused deliberately. He also stated that the aforementioned fractures were not what had killed her.
A burns and plastic surgeon providing evidence to the court, said that Sara had been burnt on the buttocks by a clothes iron, which would have caused "significant physical and psychological discomfort" to her. He said that though he could not provide an exact date for the injury, he believed it have occurred between two and six weeks before her death. There was no evidence of leftover adhesive near the wound, which suggests that the wound was neglected. Sara's feet were also scalded by a liquid. Tim De Meyer, chief constable of Surrey Police, said that Sara's death was "a crime of the most unimaginable and unspeakable evil" and that the case was "about as bad as I have ever seen." Mark Chapman, detective chief superintendent of Surrey Police, said that he had never seen "such horrific suffering of a young person" before in his entire 30-year-long career.
Despite no extradition treaty between the United Kingdom and Pakistan, an international search was launched as police searched Jhelum. The police made a request for information two weeks after the discovery of Sara's body, urging anyone who had contact with her to come forward with information. Muhammad Sharif, Urfan's father, said that Urfan had visited him in Jhelum while fleeing from the police and that Urfan told him that Sara's death was accidental. According to Muhammad, Urfan was hiding from the police out of fear and added that Urfan was likely not "think[ing] properly".
On 12 September 2023, police raided Muhammad's house in Jhelum, and recovered Urfan's five living children in good condition. The Pakistani government then assumed custody over the children. On 13 September, Urfan, Beinash, and Faisal were arrested at Gatwick Airport on suspicion of murder after disembarking a flight from Sialkot via Dubai. They had voluntarily returned to the UK.
On 14 September 2023, Urfan, Beinash, and Faisal were all charged with murder along with an additional charge of causing or allowing the death of a child. They were remanded in custody ahead of a hearing on 15 September at Guildford Magistrates' Court. They appeared before London's Old Bailey on 19 September 2023 via videolink. A plea hearing took place in December 2023, at which all three pleaded not guilty to each charge, and they were set to stand trial in September 2024. At an Old Bailey hearing on 26 January 2024, Judge Mark Lucraft KC set a provisional trial date for October, with the actual date to be confirmed at a hearing in February. At a hearing on 1 March, it was confirmed the trial was tabled to begin on 1 October. On 8 October 2024, the jury was sworn in at the start of the trial of the three defendants at the Old Bailey.
The prosecutor revealed on 14 October that Sara's father had admitted killing her when he rang 999 after landing in Pakistan: he claimed he had "legally punished her" and told the operator, "I beat her up, it wasn't my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much". In November 2024, he accepted "full responsibility" for causing Sara's death. Urfan called himself the "worst parent on the planet" and admitted that he mistreated Sara during cross-examination. On 11 December 2024, Urfan and Batool were found guilty of murdering Sara. Malik was found not guilty of murder but was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child. On 17 December 2024, Urfan was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years, while Beinash was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 33 years. Malik was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for causing or allowing the death of a child.
On 1 January 2025, Urfan was ambushed in his cell by two inmates while serving his sentence at HM Prison Belmarsh, who then attacked him by slitting his throat with a tuna can lid. Urfan sustained non-life threatening injuries to his face and neck. He was treated inside the prison and was not transported to a hospital. After the attack, Urfan was transferred to HM Prison Frankland under heavy security.
While incarcerated at HM Prison Bronzefield, Beinash was reported to have become good friends with Lucy Letby, a former neonatal nurse convicted of murdering seven infants, with them playing cards together and talking to each other frequently. They are housed in the same secure unit to protect them from other inmates.
The High Court of Justice placed a gag order on the media in December 2024 to prevent them from reporting the names of the judges that placed Sara in Urfan's custody, due to a "real risk of harm" from a "virtual lynch mob". Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, overturned the previous judgement after an appeal by media organizations, calling it "misguided". The judges overseeing the family court trial were named as Alison Raeside, Peter Nathan, and Sally Williams, none of whom requested anonymity.
In January 2025, the Solicitor General's Office referred Urfan's sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme, asking the court to impose a whole life order. At the same time, Urfan, Batool and Malik petitioned the Court of Appeal to reduce their sentences. A hearing on both cases was held on 13 March 2025 and the court delivered its ruling the same day, upholding all three sentences and rejecting the Solicitor General's application.
Sara was buried in eastern Poland, near the unspecified village that her mother moved to after her death, under her mother's surname of Domin. Her mother lives there with her new partner, with whom she had a son.
Shortly after the end of the murder trial, Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for greater government supervision of homeschooled children, and said that Sara's death was "awful". In Parliament, he declared that the government would learn from her death. After his announcement, the Department for Education declared that they were preparing additional regulations on homeschooling children, to prevent additional children from "falling through the cracks". Lucy Powell, head of the House of Commons, said that the government is "committed to further reform of children’s social care and much stronger safeguards for children being taken into home education", and that such measures are "long overdue".
In 2024, the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which makes it illegal for parents to homeschool their children if the child's situation is being investigated by social services or the child is under a child protection plan, was proposed in Parliament. In March 2025, Will Forster, the member of parliament representing Woking, proposed an amendment, named Sara's Law in memory of Sara, to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill that would facilitate increased communication between social services and schools.