bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

The body of a 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl whose death sparked an international manhunt was found with burn marks believed to have been made by an iron, a prosecutor told a London court on Monday.
Sara Sharif was found dead in bed at her family home in Woking, southern England, on August 10, 2023.
The discovery triggered a manhunt in which Interpol and Britain’s foreign ministry coordinated with authorities in Pakistan.
The day before Sara’s body was found, her father, 42-year-old taxi driver Urfan Sharif, stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, left the UK for Pakistan with Sharif’s five other children.
All three adults are on trial for her murder.
Whoever see this note its me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating ... I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her but I lost it
Urfan Sharif in note found next to Sara Saharif’s body
A postmortem examination found “signs of traumatic head injury”, apparent scald burns on the inside of her ankles and bite marks - five to her left lower arm and one to her inner thigh - that were “probably human”.
Sara’s stepmother Batool has refused to provide a dental impression for comparison with the bite marks, the prosecutor said.
Other injuries included damage to Sara’s ribs, shoulder blades, fingers and 11 separate fractures to the spine, he added.
The jury was played a recording of a “calm” phone call on the evening of August 8, 2023 in which Batool asks about booking flights to Islamabad.
Sara’s body was found in the family’s empty house after an emergency call, apparently from Pakistan, alerting officers was made by a man identifying himself as the father.

A note from Sara’s father found next to her body appeared to contain a confession, the prosecutor told jurors.
“Love you Sara,” said the note, which was shown to the jury.
A second page added: “Whoever see this note its me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating.
“I am running away because I am scared but I promise that I will hand over myself and take punishment.”
Another page read: “I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her but I lost it.”
A handwriting expert who analysed the note concluded it was written by Urfan Sharif.
The three defendants were arrested in September last year after disembarking from a flight from Dubai.
British media reported the defendants had returned to the UK on business class flights booked with Emirates.
All deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.


Family members on trial for murder of 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl

Putin ordered Novichok attack, double agent Skripal tells UK Novichok inquiry

Shanghai, Hong Kong ports lag global peers on maritime services, CY Leung says

Alex Salmond, ex-first minister who sought Scotland’s independence from UK, dies at 69

Britain

A court artist sketch shows Sara Sharif’s father Urfan Sharif (right) and her uncle Faisal Malik appearing via video-link from Belmarsh prison, at the Old Bailey in London on Monday. Photo: PA via AP 

An Emirates plane at Dubai International Airport. British media reported the defendants had returned to the UK on business class flights booked with the airline. Photo: AP

Members of the emergency services in Salisbury, Britain, in 2018, after a poisoning with a nerve agent. Photo: Reuters

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after being exposed to the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok. She was unwittingly caught up in an international assassination attempt, a public inquiry was told on Monday. Photo: Metropolitan Police via AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh in Mongolia on September 3. Photo: Reuters

In this image made from video released by the Russian Defence Ministry on Friday, a Russian sniper, in an undisclosed location, fires towards Ukrainian forces. Photo: via AP

Attack on Chinese nationals near Karachi airport leaves 2 dead, 8 injured

A vehicle is seen on fire at the site of an explosion that caused injures and destroyed vehicles outside Karachi airport in Pakistan on Sunday. Photo: AP

People stand near the wreckage of vehicles after an explosion outside Karachi airport on Sunday. Photo: Reuters 

Canada and India expel each other’s diplomats in escalating dispute over an assassination

Young members of the Pakistani Sikh minority in Lahore, Pakistan, take part in a protest against India in 2023 over the murder in Canada of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India and Canada are still caught up in a diplomatic dispute over the alleged involvement of the Indian authorities in the killing. Photo: EPA-EFE

A person walks past posters of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, Canada in May. Nijjar was murdered in June 2023. Photo: via AP

Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in his New York office in November. Photo: AP

UK woman who killed her parents and lived with their bodies gets life sentence

Virginia McCullough has pleaded guilty to murdering her parents. Photo: Essex Police


Lois and John McCullough. Photo: Essex Police 

Virginia McCullough is arrested in Pump Hill, Great Baddow, in late 2023. Photo: Essex Police 

Chinese national arrested after 3 children hurt in Switzerland stabbing attack

An armed policeman stands outside a daycare in Zurich after a knife attack on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

A teddy bear and other toys at the daycare centre where a man attacked several children. Photo: AFP

Police officers the scene. Photo: EPA-EFE

News

World

Europe

Asia

South Asia

Sara Sharif found dead at her home in Woking, UK in August 2023. Postmortem found ‘signs of traumatic head injury’, burns and bite marks


Sara Sharif found dead at her home in Woking, UK in August 2023. Postmortem found ‘signs of traumatic head injury’, burns and bite marks.


Crime

Pakistan

Interpol