Pakistani police raid at least 20 homes in search for Sara Sharif’s family
Police in Pakistan have raided at least 20 homes across the country as the hunt for Sara Sharif’s family continues.
The raids are ongoing and focused in the Jhelum and Mirpur areas, Sky News reports.
The body of the 10-year-old was found at her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10 after police were called from Pakistan by her father, Urfan Sharif, 41.
A post-mortem examination claimed Sara had suffered ‘multiple and extensive injuries’ over a ‘sustained and extended’ period of time, but her cause of death has not yet been determined.
Sara’s father and her stepmother Beinash Batool, 29 – who she was living with at the time of her death – are believed to have travelled to Pakistan the day before the child’s body was found.
An international manhunt has since been launched to find them, alongside Mr Sharif’s brother Faisal Shahzad Malik, 28.
Olga Sharif, Sara’s mother, has previously urged Mr Sharif and Ms Batool to come forward.
Speaking on Polish television programme Uwaga on the TVN Channel, Ms Sharif described the horrifying experience of having to identify her daughter’s body in the mortuary.
She told the programme: ‘One of her cheeks was swollen and the other side was bruised.
‘Even now, when I close my eyes I can see what my baby looked like.’
She explained she had separated from her husband in 2015, and Sara and her older brother had been living with her until 2019 when the family court ruled they should live with their father.
She still had equal rights to see the children, but maintaining this became increasingly harder over time.
She is being supported by specialist police officers from Surrey Police.
But yesterday Mr Sharif and Ms Batool made their first public statement since the murder investigation was launched.
Ms Batool can be seen reading from a notebook while Mr Sharif remains silent in the low-quality footage.
She says: ‘Firstly I would like to talk about Sara. Sara’s death was an incident. Our family in Pakistan is severely affected by all that is going on.
‘All the media have been given wrong statements… Imran [one of Mr Sharif’s brothers] did not give a statement that Sara fell down the stairs and broke her neck. This was spread through a Pakistani media outlet.
‘All of our family members have gone into hiding as everyone is scared for their safety. The kids are unable to attend school as they are afraid to leave the house. No one is leaving the house.
‘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 of safety. That is why we have gone into hiding.
‘Lastly, we are willing to cooperate with the UK authorities and fight our case in court.’
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