- By Daniel Sandford in London and Caroline Davies in Islamabad
- BBC News
September 13, 2023, 2:30 p.m. BST
Updated 45 minutes ago
Image source: Surrey Police
Three people police want to speak to about the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif are returning to the UK from Pakistan.
Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, his wife Beinash Batool and his brother Faisal Malik are expected to land later.
Surrey Police said they wanted to speak to the trio, who lived with Sara before her death and left the UK the day before her body was found.
Post-mortem tests revealed that Sara had suffered “multiple and extensive injuries”.
Sara’s father, wife and brother have booked a flight that lands in London Gatwick this evening after moving in Dubai.
They flew to Dubai on a plane from an airport in Sialkot in Punjab province early on Wednesday morning.
It is not yet confirmed that they boarded the flight in Dubai.
Sara’s five siblings, aged between one and 13, who traveled to Pakistan with the three adults, remain in a government care facility in the country.
image description,
Sara Sharif suffered “multiple and extensive injuries,” an autopsy revealed
Sara’s body was found at her home in Woking on August 10.
She lived on the property with her father, Mr Sharif, her stepmother, Ms Batool, her uncle, Mr Malik, and her siblings.
The three adults traveled from the UK to Pakistan on August 9th.
An international search for the trio was launched via Interpol, with police in Pakistan trying to locate them on behalf of investigators in Surrey.
Mr Sharif and Ms Batool released a video statement last week in which Ms Batool said they had gone into hiding in Pakistan because they feared the country’s police would “torture or kill” them.
They also said that their family members had been harassed and that they were willing to cooperate with the British authorities.
Mr. Sharif did not speak in the video while Ms. Batool read from a notebook. It was her first public comment since Sara’s death.
In response, Jhelum police chief Mehmood Bajwa told the BBC that the allegations of harassment and torture of family members were false.
He said if the family was afraid of the police, they could seek protection in court.