'I can't get peace': Grandfather of Sara Sharif says pain of her death will 'remain in his heart'

Words by Greg Ockrim, Produced by Ali Kaifee

The grandfather of Sara Sharif has told ITV News the pain of her death will "remain in his heart" after the 10-year-old was found dead in a bunkbed at the family home in Woking, Surrey, last August.

Sara's father, Urfan Sharif, and step-mother, Beinash Batool, were both found guilty of her murder on Wednesday, December 11. Her uncle, Faisal Malik, was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.

Speaking before the verdicts, Muhammad Sharif said he had "a firm belief that in the courts of the UK, only justice is served."

"I just want justice," he said, speaking from his home in Jhelum, Pakistan, "we have full confidence in [the courts] that whatever decision they take, it will be according to the law."

Mr Sharif's two sons, Urfan Sharif and Faisal Malik, along with Urfan's wife, Beinash Batool, faced trial for Sara's murder in August 2023.

Muhammad Sharif told ITV News he spoke regularly with Sara and claimed he had video called her on the day she died, he said: “She was a very good girl. Although I have not lived with her, but whenever I used to talk to the children, she was very good.

“She was the dearest to me," he added.

Muhammad Sharif claims he spoke to her at 10.30am Pakistan time on the day she died. He said that, although he spoke to her often, he was "not aware" that she was being abused.

"I used to talk to her daily, but even she did not tell me that she was being tortured by someone," he said.

“Had I known, I would never have allowed such thing to happen in the first place."

He said the pain of Sara's death would "remain in [his] heart".

"I can't get peace," he told ITV News.

Following Sara's death, the three suspects fled to Pakistan where they hid from authorities for a month sparking an international manhunt.

Police operators received a call from Urfan Sharif telling them of his daughter’s death stating: "I’ve killed my daughter."

While on the run, Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool published a video statement from an unknown location, referring to Sara's death as “an incident”. They also said they were “willing to cooperate with UK authorities”.

Muhammad Sharif claims he did not know where his sons and daughter-in-law were hiding while they were on the run in Pakistan.

ITV News spoke to the investigating police officers in Jhelum, where Muhammad Sharif is from. They said officers attempted to track the suspects down through their family.

“When we went to [Muhammad], they started pretending that they were not on talking terms with Urfan and that he had not come to them," said Jhelum Police's Station House Officer, Imran Hussain Chaudhry.

“Urfan Sharif's family's cooperation was not very helpful," he said. "When we approached them to ask where Urfaan Sharif and his children were, they told us that they had never been here."

Mr Chaudhry said the police tried to negotiate with Muhammad Sharif, but that he was unwilling to co-operate.

"They didn’t provide us with any useful information. So, they didn’t play any positive role in this matter," he added.

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