Video of Sara Sharif Dancing Shown to Jurors Days Before Her Death

Jurors have been presented with a video depicting ten-year-old Sara Sharif dancing at her family residence days prior to her demise. This footage is thought to have been recorded on 6 August 2023, which was four days before Sara’s body, bearing numerous injuries, was discovered at the Woking, Surrey, address last year, according to information presented at the Old Bailey. Her father, Urfan Sharif, aged 42, her stepmother, Beinash Batool, aged 30, and her uncle, Faisal Malik, aged 29, have each entered pleas of not guilty to murder. Previously, jurors were informed that the girl had endured more than two years of abuse, involving instances of being hooded, burned, bitten, and beaten. A post-mortem examination revealed that Sara sustained numerous injuries, among them “probable human bite marks,” an iron burn, and scalding from hot water, prior to her death on 8 August 2023. During cross-examination, Caroline Carberry KC, representing Ms Batool, suggested to pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary, who performed the post-mortem, that Sara did not exhibit a brain injury at the time the video was recorded. Dr Cary stated: “She is conscious. She’s moving, and she’s moving in a co-ordinated manner.” He further concurred that Sara seemed to be “co-ordinated, alert and smiling at the camera” throughout the video. Dr Cary additionally remarked that Sara was “moving remarkably well” in the video, despite her other skeletal injuries. Ms Carberry KC asserted that Ms Batool had filmed the video, though the exact date and time of the video clip were pending verification by the prosecution. Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC had previously stated that a bloodstained cricket bat, a rolling pin bearing Sara’s DNA, a metal pole, a belt, and rope were discovered in proximity to the family’s outhouse. The court was also previously informed that Mr Sharif, Ms Batool, and Mr Malik traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan, accompanied by other family members, on 9 August 2023, which was the day before Sara’s body was located. Prosecutors indicated that Mr Sharif contacted police from Pakistan, confessing to Sara’s killing approximately an hour after his family’s flight arrived in Islamabad. Jurors were informed that Mr Sharif’s defense posits that Ms Batool was accountable for Sara’s death, and that he made a false confession during the phone call and in a written note to safeguard his wife. The three defendants, who resided with Sara in Woking prior to her death, additionally face charges of causing or allowing the death of a child, which they also deny.