Girl’s stepmother was ‘possessed’, court told

A stepmother accused of killing 10-year-old Sara Sharif was “possessed” like “someone has done black magic on her”, a court has been told.

Sara’s body was found with dozens of injuries at the family’s home in Woking, Surrey, last year, the Old Bailey was told.

Her father Urfan Sharif, 42, stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, have denied murder.

Giving evidence, Mr Sharif told jurors that Ms Batool was abusive towards him and that her family told him that she had a “problem”.

“She’s very, very crazy when she goes into that mindset. She doesn’t stop,” he told the court.

“Her family would come and say, ‘do not leave her’. Her family said, ‘she is possessed [like] someone has done black magic on her’,” he told jurors.

He also denied ever beating Sara, adding that there was not a single incident with him and the children when he was at home.

“Everything happened at home while I was at work,” he told the court.

Jurors were told Mr Sharif’s case was that Ms Batool was responsible for Sara’s death, and he made a false confession on the phone call and also in a note to protect his wife.

Mr Sharif told the court he was “cursing” himself for leaving Sara “like an orphan” after travelling to Pakistan on 9 August 2023, the day before Sara’s body was found.

Warning: This article features distressing details

Two videos filmed by Mr Sharif on his mobile phone were played to jurors on Wednesday.

Mr Sharif said Ms Batool had accused him of flirting with a hospital nurse, before she “abused” him at their home and “did not let me get out of the house” in February 2016.

“She was twisting my hands. Before that she kicked me,” he told the court.

In the video played to jurors, Mr Sharif can be heard saying to his wife, “you’re pushing me” and that he was going to use the recording as “evidence against her”.

In the second recording, filmed in June 2019, Mr Sharif can be heard repeatedly telling Ms Batool to “let me go” and “leave me alone”.

Mr Sharif is then seen climbing out of the kitchen window.

He told the court Ms Batool had “slapped” him, adding that “she locked the front door” and “she gets really angry”.

Mr Sharif also told jurors that it was Ms Batool’s decision for Sara to be home schooled.

He said Sara informed him she was being bullied, but he did not agree with Ms Batool’s decision to home school their daughter at first.

Naeem Mian KC, for Mr Sharif, previously told the court that Ms Batool was “the true villain”.

He told the jurors that Mr Sharif arrived home to find Sara “limp” on 8 August 2023, before attempting CPR and begging for an ambulance to be called.

“He was told in Urdu or Punjabi, ‘leave it, she’s dead’,” by Ms Batool, Mr Mian KC added.

The court previously heard that Sara was hooded, burned and beaten during more than two years of abuse.

A post-mortem examination found Sara had suffered dozens of injuries including “probable human bite marks”, an iron burn and scalding from hot water before she died on 8 August 2023.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC previously said a bloodstained cricket bat, a rolling pin with Sara’s DNA on it, a metal pole, a belt and rope were found near the family’s outhouse.

The court also previously heard Mr Sharif, Ms Batool and Mr Malik travelled to Islamabad, Pakistan, with other family members on 9 August 2023.

Prosecutors said Mr Sharif called police from Pakistan and admitted he killed Sara about an hour after his family’s flight had landed in Islamabad.

The three defendants, who lived with Sara in Woking before her death, are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, which they deny.