UK - Sara Sharif, 10, found murdered in house, Surrey, Aug 2023 *POIs ARREST* #3

[Alyce]

No, I don't believe there's a culture of uncles marrying nieces, and besides that she was only 10 years old! I've skimmed this thread and noticed a few "othering" comments, with some people attributing aspects of this crime to (misunderstood) "culture differences". There's no culture where torturing a child is considered, in any way, okay. And as for child marriage, the current minimum legal age of marriage in Pakistan is 18, and child marriage (below the age of 15) has been prohibited since 1929!

IMO, I don't believe Sara's punishments began as discipline. Everything I've seen suggests to me that Sara was a compliant, good child, who did what she was told. She was seen by neighbours doing chores. She didn't alert her mother to how she was being treated on the occasion when her mother reported that she seemed "changed". She made excuses for her injuries and tried to conceal them from her teachers. She did what she was told.

I think we are dealing with a sadist and I believe Beinash was the main culprit. Beinash would have been in High School at the time of Baby P. News stories like that tend to be much discussed with friends and classmates at school, so she must certainly have been aware of it and the case may have left an impression on her. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, I struggle to believe the "discipline" angle, which leads me to question Beinash's narrative of the father being a harsh disciplinarian, alongside the fact that his "confession" does not match the injuries that Sara was found to have sustained. If he'd known the full extent of the injuries, why would he preface his confession with "legally punished"? It would have been blindingly obvious that a burn from an iron and bitemarks etc. would not fit this definition. However, if the father was unaware of the full extent of the injuries, it would tally with him making a false confession at the behest of Beinash.

We know screams were heard from the property when only Beinash was at home with the children. And Sara would have spent most, if not all, of the day with Beinash when she was being "homeschooled" and the two men were out at work. The father and uncle volunteered their dental impressions, whilst Beinash refused. Beinash is the one who was ordering sellotape online. It's faster and cheaper to just buy sellotape in a shop, and I can't help thinking that the father would have chosen to purchase such an item from a physical store whilst he was out and about (driving his taxi). So how involved was he in the day-to-day of what was going on? I also get an impression, from the texts to her sister, that Beinash can be quite devious and manipulative. I mentioned in an earlier post that I suspected one of her texts (about Sara vomitting) was an attempt to cover up deliberate starvation.

So, I think we have one sadistic psychopath (Beinash), a negligent father who failed to protect his daughter (and was subsequently framed and manipulated into confessing by the one person who knew precisely how bad the injuries were) and an uncle (who had less power to intervene than the father and was not even declared as living at the address, IIRC, which may have created additional conflicting issues for him). IMO, I suspect there are likely to be varying degrees of culpability. I cannot believe that all three adults were sadistic. In similar cases, it's usually one perp and others who fail to take action against the perp.

JMO.

Agree totally with all of this.
I have always thought B was the main perpetrator. Prime reason was jealousy. Sara was also a very pretty young girl - likely to develop into a very good looking teenager. Jealousy from B who would not be able to compete ( not that I think Sara would have been competing, but B certainly would ).
Plus Sara was not her daughter - she was a reminder that US used to be married and had another family.

As you have said, Sara spent her days in that house with B and I believe much of the abuse/torture took place during that time. Then when U came home, B would tell him lies about Sara's behaviour, which would result in more abuse from him.
It would be useful if the Prosecution were able to show how much time each of these 3 spent at the house. US's schedule should be easy enough to obtain, via the taxi company. FM's via McDonalds and college ( if he actually did attend college, and his student label wasnt just for visa purposes ).

 

[Alyce]

dbm - double post

 

[Pinkestpanther]

It's impossible to contemplate that any of the 3 could have acted alone whilst living in the same house. This was prolonged, systematic abuse/torture.They all were involved. All culpable. Just moo.

 

[Dotta]

The uncle seems to me a strange fella.

I remember reading he refused to shake hands with women.
This might indicate he is an orthodox in his religious beliefs.

Why did he come to the UK then?

And why didn't he rent a room somewhere
instead of leeching on family with 6 kids in crowded home?

JMO

 

[VioletLilac]

i think in this case, timing was everything and taken full advantage of, especially if neighbours either side worked during the day.

Good point. The neighbour could also have a boyfriend whose house they stayed over.

 

[VioletLilac]

No, I don't believe there's a culture of uncles marrying nieces, and besides that she was only 10 years old! I've skimmed this thread and noticed a few "othering" comments, with some people attributing aspects of this crime to (misunderstood) "culture differences". There's no culture where torturing a child is considered, in any way, okay. And as for child marriage, the current minimum legal age of marriage in Pakistan is 18, and child marriage (below the age of 15) has been prohibited since 1929!

IMO, I don't believe Sara's punishments began as discipline. Everything I've seen suggests to me that Sara was a compliant, good child, who did what she was told. She was seen by neighbours doing chores. She didn't alert her mother to how she was being treated on the occasion when her mother reported that she seemed "changed". She made excuses for her injuries and tried to conceal them from her teachers. She did what she was told.

I think we are dealing with a sadist and I believe Beinash was the main culprit. Beinash would have been in High School at the time of Baby P. News stories like that tend to be much discussed with friends and classmates at school, so she must certainly have been aware of it and the case may have left an impression on her. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, I struggle to believe the "discipline" angle, which leads me to question Beinash's narrative of the father being a harsh disciplinarian, alongside the fact that his "confession" does not match the injuries that Sara was found to have sustained. If he'd known the full extent of the injuries, why would he preface his confession with "legally punished"? It would have been blindingly obvious that a burn from an iron and bitemarks etc. would not fit this definition. However, if the father was unaware of the full extent of the injuries, it would tally with him making a false confession at the behest of Beinash.

We know screams were heard from the property when only Beinash was at home with the children. And Sara would have spent most, if not all, of the day with Beinash when she was being "homeschooled" and the two men were out at work. The father and uncle volunteered their dental impressions, whilst Beinash refused. Beinash is the one who was ordering sellotape online. It's faster and cheaper to just buy sellotape in a shop, and I can't help thinking that the father would have chosen to purchase such an item from a physical store whilst he was out and about (driving his taxi). So how involved was he in the day-to-day of what was going on? I also get an impression, from the texts to her sister, that Beinash can be quite devious and manipulative. I mentioned in an earlier post that I suspected one of her texts (about Sara vomitting) was an attempt to cover up deliberate starvation.

So, I think we have one sadistic psychopath (Beinash), a negligent father who failed to protect his daughter (and was subsequently framed and manipulated into confessing by the one person who knew precisely how bad the injuries were) and an uncle (who had less power to intervene than the father and was not even declared as living at the address, IIRC, which may have created additional conflicting issues for him). IMO, I suspect there are likely to be varying degrees of culpability. I cannot believe that all three adults were sadistic. In similar cases, it's usually one perp and others who fail to take action against the perp.

JMO.

Didn't Olga say that Urfan had strangled her and was violent though? So he might have replaced her with Sara as the victim to take his rage out on? I agree that Beinash was involved too. Also I agree it wasn't cultural as we've had plenty of sadistic English child abusers/killers too.
I wish they'd listened to Olga about Urfan's violence.

 

[Dotta]

Trial resumes​

The trial of Sara Sharif’s father Urfan Sharif, stepmother Beinash Batool and uncle Faisal Malik has resumed.

Jurors are due to hear evidence from paediatric radiologist Professor Owen Arthurs.

Sara Sharif had suffered ‘multiple fractures’ in 25 locations​

Sara Sharif had suffered
“multiple unexplained fractures in 25 locations on the body”,
a report by a paediatric radiologist had concluded.

Professor Owen Arthurs
told the court
that he had undertaken a skeletal survey which included an X-ray of every bone in her body followed by a CT scan.

He said that she had suffered
“multiple injuries”,
including fractures to her hyoid, right clavicle, left and right scapular, to her spine and ribs, elbow and hands.

Sara Sharif suffered multiple fractures across 25 locations on her body, court told

A radiologist told jurors that he had ‘never seen’ a hyoid bone fracture in a child before

www.independent.co.uk

 

[bobbymkii]

The uncle seems to me a strange fella.

I remember reading he refused to shake hands with women.
This might indicate he is an orthodox in his religious beliefs.

Why did he come to the UK then?

And why didn't he rent a room somewhere
instead of leeching on family with 6 kids in crowded home?

JMO

Housing is very expensive in London and the South East. It would be at least £1000 per month to rent a studio/1 bed flat and that's before energy/water bills etc are taken into consideration.

 

[Dotta]

'Unusual’ injuries could not have occurred accidentally, says radiologist​

Detailing her injuries, Professor Owen Arthurs described them as “unusual” and said
they could not have occurred by accident or in a single event.

Asked for his professional opinion, he told jurors:

“Many fractures can occur accidentally and many fractures can occur from a single event
but in my opinion,
most of the fractures in this case were very unusual and they cannot be explained by an accidental mechanism
nor can they be explained by a single high impact trauma event.

My opinion is
that the most likely explanation for the constellation of injuries, including location and pattern,
is multiple episodes of blunt force trauma impacted over several weeks.”

The Old Bailey had previously heard that Sara had suffered more than 70 injuries before her death,
which had included bite marks, burns and scalding.

Sara Sharif suffered multiple fractures across 25 locations on her body, court told

A radiologist told jurors that he had ‘never seen’ a hyoid bone fracture in a child before

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Dotta]

Radiologist says injuries to arm and scapular likely to be ‘blunt force trauma’​

Jurors have been shown a number of X-ray scans
which showed fractures in certain areas of Sara Sharif’s body,
including her right and left scapular.

"I can’t think of an accidental way in which you could fracture both scapulars at the same time,”
Professor Arthurs said.

Referring to an injury to her right arm, he said:
“In very young children when you twist the bone you can easily break the outside before you break the bone itself.

I don’t think that applies here because Sara is 10.
I just think it’s more likely there has been blunt force trauma.”

The Old Bailey were also shown a bruise that had calcified in her arm,
which suggested it had not been given time to heal or had repeatedly come into contact with direct impact.

“It takes at least three to four weeks for a bruise to turn to calcification.
In my view this injury is somewhere between four to eight weeks old,”
he said.

Sara Sharif suffered multiple fractures across 25 locations on her body, court told

A radiologist told jurors that he had ‘never seen’ a hyoid bone fracture in a child before

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Dotta]

I bet
these monsters are sitting there
with gaping mouths
looking at Prosecutor and Experts in amazement.

In their stupidity they never realized that EACH injury would tell its horrific story.

Imagine being sooo foolish to believe
that a simple tale of "unfortunate accident"
(cough cough)
would be enough to explain the death of a child.

That it would be believable
SMH

JMO

 

[Dotta]

Schoolgirl had suffered 10 spinal fractures​

Sara had suffered ten spinal fractures in the weeks before she died.

Professor Owen Arthurs told jurors that they were
in the “early stages of healing” and that they had been caused more than 10 days before her death and within the four week lead up to 8 August.

Other fractures were located on both shoulder blades, both arms and both hands, two ribs and to her collar bone.

Sara Sharif suffered multiple fractures across 25 locations on her body, court told

A radiologist told jurors that he had ‘never seen’ a hyoid bone fracture in a child before

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Dotta]

Spinal fractures likely caused by ‘high velocity impact’​

A radiologist who examined Sara Sharif’s bones has said
that her spinal fractures were likely caused by
“high velocity impact or multiple trauma”.

“Spinal fractures are very rare even in specialist trauma centres
and they are usually caused by road traffic accidents
or falls from height,”
he said.

In one case she had suffered a re-fracture to one of the vertebraes in her spine which indicated
“repeated trauma”,
but Professor Arthurs could not say draw a conclusion on when this had occurred.


Hmmm...
This might indicate
falling down the stairs.

After all, as the saying goes
"There is always a grain of Truth in every Lie"

JMO

Sara Sharif suffered multiple fractures across 25 locations on her body, court told

A radiologist told jurors that he had ‘never seen’ a hyoid bone fracture in a child before

www.independent.co.uk

 

[JennieM]

This article has a very long list of injuries from the autopsy. Warning: upsetting.

Sara Sharif suffered at least 71 external injuries before her death, court hears

Sara Sharif suffered at least 71 external injuries before her death, court hears

Ten-year-old found dead at home in Woking in August 2023 had ‘constellation’ of grazes, burns, puncture wounds and bruises

www.theguardian.com

 

[Dotta]

Radiologist had ‘never seen’ a hyoid fracture in a child​

Detailing a fracture to Sara’s hyoid,
a u-shaped bone at the top of her neck,
Professor Arthurs said it was
“extremely rare”.

“I have never seen a hyoid fracture in a child,
even when we have a very good history in ligature strangulation,”
he said.

"The most likely cause here is manual strangulation with a degree of force
above that we would commonly recognize as ligature strangulation,
meaning hanging.”

He believes this was caused between six to 12 weeks before her death.

Trial adjourns for lunch​

The trial into the murder of Sara Sharif has adjourned for the lunch break
and will resume at 2.05pm.

Sara Sharif suffered multiple fractures across 25 locations on her body, court told

A radiologist told jurors that he had ‘never seen’ a hyoid bone fracture in a child before

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Yellowbelly]

Spinal fractures likely caused by ‘high velocity impact’​

A radiologist who examined Sara Sharif’s bones has said
that her spinal fractures were likely caused by
“high velocity impact or multiple trauma”.

“Spinal fractures are very rare even in specialist trauma centres
and they are usually caused by road traffic accidents
or falls from height,”
he said.

In one case she had suffered a re-fracture to one of the vertebraes in her spine which indicated
“repeated trauma”,
but Professor Arthurs could not say draw a conclusion on when this had occurred.


Hmmm...
This might indicate
falling down the stairs.

After all, as the saying goes
"There is always a grain of Truth in every Lie"

JMO

Sara Sharif suffered multiple fractures across 25 locations on her body, court told

A radiologist told jurors that he had ‘never seen’ a hyoid bone fracture in a child before

www.independent.co.uk

Falling down stairs, or being thrown down stairs, repeatedly.

Or perhaps more likely is being hit repeatedly across the back with one of the weapons found at the house. The cricket bat or the pole, maybe.

 

[Pinkestpanther]

Yes it sounds like being repeatedly struck across the back, with a cricket bat or similar, has caused the spinal fractures. Just horrendous.

 

[Dotta]

Yes it sounds like being repeatedly struck across the back, with a cricket bat or similar, has caused the spinal fractures. Just horrendous.

Is a cricket bat so heavy to inflict such injuries?

I guess it was brother's bat, as Grandfather said his grandson was excellent at cricket.

But I thought children use lighter bats.

PS
I'm NOT suggesting that brother injured Sara.
Only, that a cricket bat was in the house.

JMO

 

[RubyLee87]

This case is horrific, like something out of a nightmare. I keep thinking how frightened and in pain Sara would have been, being trapped in a house with people who were torturing and abusing her. I can’t believe nobody reported anything - the school, the neighbours, even Batool’s sister after receiving messages about the abuse. Then Sara being left with ulcerated burns, broken bones, bite marks. Poor little soul.

I would be happy if her abusers were given whole life sentences. To be capable of doing this to anyone, let alone an innocent child, they must be sadistic and evil. In an ideal world they would have everything they did to Sara done to them. I don’t think any prison term is really enough for what they deserve.

I wonder if any of them will take the stand later on. Or if Sara’s mother, Olga will give evidence.

 

[bobbymkii]

Is a cricket bat so heavy to inflict such injuries?

I guess it was brother's bat, as Grandfather said his grandson was excellent at cricket.

But I thought children use lighter bats.

PS
I'm NOT suggesting that brother injured Sara.
Only, that a cricket bat was in the house.

JMO

Yes they are quite heavy and can only be handled by using both hands. They are designed to smack a rock hard cricket ball out of the reach of 11 players on the fielding team in order to score "runs" after all.

It would be a very unwieldy weapon to use in a fair fight, but an absolutely abhorrent weapon to use when abusing a child.