Sara Sharif found fully clothed under a blanket in a bunk bed, court hears
Sara Sharif was found lying face up under a blanket in a bunk bed, a court heard on Friday.
The girl’s father Urfan Sharif, 41, stepmother Beinash Batool, 29, and uncle Faisal Malik, 28, have been accused of the murder of the 10-year-old whose body was found at a property on Aug 10 in Woking, Surrey.
They have also been charged with causing or allowing the death of a child.
The defendants left the UK for Pakistan with five children the day before Sarif’s body was discovered and they returned to the UK on Wednesday.
The three were arrested on landing at Gatwick and were later charged with her murder.
They appeared at Guildford magistrates’ court on Friday, where they were remanded into custody following a 20-minute hearing.
The court heard that police officers found the child fully clothed, face up with her hands on her front underneath a blanket.
Prosecutor Amanda Burrows told the court police were alerted to the situation when they received a call from Pakistan, which lasted eight minutes and 34 seconds, at 2.47am on Aug 10.
The flight had been booked on Aug 8, the prosecution said.
Officers arrived at the property and found a room with bunk beds. There was a blanket on one of the bottom bunks and when they pulled it back they found Sara lying fully clothed in the middle of the bed with her head up and her hands lying on her chest, the hearing was told.
Ambulance crews were called to the address where they pronounced the child dead just after 4am.
She was identified using the DNA of her mother Olga Sharif, who lives in Somerset, and another relative.
The defendants, of Woking, spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth and addresses and did not enter any pleas to the two charges.
Urfan Sharif had his head down as the prosecution briefly outlined the case against the defendants.
Sharif was wearing a grey prison issue tracksuit, Malik wore a red T-shirt and blue jeans and Batool was dressed in black. They were each flanked by a dock officer.
Two of the defendants required an Urdu interpreter.
The court heard that a post mortem examination was carried out on Aug 15 2023 but that the actual cause of death was yet to be established.
The defendants will appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.
