Five children have been found by police in Pakistan as part of an investigation into the death of a 10 year-old girl in Surrey.
Sara Sharif was found dead at her home in Woking by officers in August, after they were called to the family residence by her fugitive father Urfan from overseas.
The group of children have now been found at the home of her grandfather, Muhammad Sharif, in the northeastern city of Jhelum, the BBC reports. He said he had been hiding them there but refused to say for how long.
A post-mortem examination found Sara Sharif had suffered ‘multiple and extensive injuries’— (PA Media)
Police are still searching for Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 41, stepmother Beinash Batool, 29, and uncle Faisal Malik, 28, who all travelled to Islamabad the day before Sara’s body was found.
“Police officers raided the house,” a neighbour told the BBC. “While inside, more officers arrived outside and stopped the traffic. They stopped everyone from filming on their mobile phones.”
Last week, Sara’s stepmother Beinash claimed her children were too afraid to leave the house to attend school.
“Sara’s death was an incident,” she said in a video statement released by her and her partner. “Our family in Pakistan are severely affected by all that is going on.”
Detectives have identified three people they would like to speak to as part of the ongoing investigation into Sara’s death— (Surrey Police)
Ms Batool denied reports one of Mr Sharif’s brothers claimed Sara had fallen down the stairs and broken her neck.
“All of our family members have gone into hiding as everyone is scared for their safety,” she said. “The kids are unable to attend school as they’re 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 (sic).”
A post-mortem examination revealed Sara had suffered “multiple and extensive” injuries which are likely to have been caused over a “sustained and extended” period of time, but the cause of her death is still unknown.
Sara’s mother Olga Sharif is currently being supported by specialist officers and has not been in contact with the father, police have said. She did not have custody of Sara after losing a custody battle in 2019 and learnt of her death from police.
Ms Sharif told The Sun she had only seen Sara and her 13-year-old son, Sara’s brother, twice in the past four years.
