Sara Sharif: Five children who travelled to Pakistan with their father taken into care
Five children who travelled to Pakistan with the father and stepmother of 10-year-old Sara Sharif will be taken into care, a judge has ruled.
The children, aged between one and 13, were recovered from the house of Sara’s grandfather in the northeastern city of Jhelum on Monday after a raid by local police.
Their grandfather Mohammad told Sky News the children had been with him since they arrived in Pakistan over a month ago and he felt it was his “duty to protect them”.
He had hoped they would be able to come back home following the court hearings in Jhelum, but Senior Judge Javed Iqbal Khokar ruled they should be taken into custody by the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau.
Police also confirmed to Sky News they have at least four teams in the city searching for Sara’s father, stepmother and uncle.
The children are understood to have travelled from the UK to Pakistan with Sara‘s father Urfan Sharif, her stepmother Beinash Batool, and his brother Faisal Shahzad Malik last month.
Authorities want to question the trio over the death of 10-year-old Sara, whose body was found at her home in Woking on 10 August after her father called 999 from Pakistan. He had flown there from the UK a day earlier.
British officers launched a murder investigation after Sara was found dead. A post-mortem examination revealed she had suffered “multiple and extensive” injuries.
Detective Superintendent Mark Chapman, from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police Major Crime Team, said: “The safety and welfare of these five children has always been a priority for us.
“A court hearing today has ruled that they will be taken to a Pakistani government childcare facility and we will continue to support our partners in ensuring that the welfare of the five children remains a priority.
“Our enquiries remain ongoing to locate Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik, who we would like to speak to as part of our enquiries into Sara’s death.”
Willing to ‘fight case’
In a video shared with Sky News, Ms Batool said last week the family is willing to cooperate with British authorities and “fight our case in court”.
“Our family in Pakistan are severely affected by all that is going on,” she added, claiming her family had been forced into hiding.
“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.”
She also denied reports that Mr Sharif’s brother Imran had claimed Sara fell down stairs, saying that was spread through a Pakistani media outlet.
Ms Sharif and her husband separated in 2015 – and Sara, along with her older brother, lived with her until 2019, when a family court determined they should reside with their father.
While she retained equal rights to visit her children, Ms Sharif said she found it increasingly challenging to maintain those rights as time went on.