The father of Sara Sharif forced his daughter to do sit-ups all night because she hid his keys, a court has heard.
Urfan Sharif was also said to have made the schoolgirl put her hands in the air after beating her so badly her stepmother, Beinash Batool, feared he would break her arms and legs.
Batool had described Sharif as a “psycho” who “beat the crap out of Sara” in text messages to her older sister, Qandeela Saboohi, the court was told. She said Sharif had told her to cover up Sara’s bruises with makeup and sunglasses after the 10-year-old’s teachers became worried that she was to be homeschooled.
Batool also detailed how Sharif would go “ballistic”, spilling hot tea across the living room, smashing up photo frames and breaking the curtains, the Old Bailey heard.
Sharif, 42, his wife, Batool, 30, and brother Faisal Malik, 29, are on trial accused of carrying out a violent “campaign of abuse” before Sara was found dead in a bunk bed at the family home in Surrey on 10 August 2023.
The defendants allegedly killed Sara on 8 August before fleeing to Pakistan, from where Sharif called police to say he had “beat her up too much”. He had left a handwritten “confession” near her fully clothed body saying: “I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it.”
On Thursday, William Emlyn Jones KC, prosecuting, read out a series of WhatsApp messages between Batool and her sister Saboohi from 2019 to 2023, which the court was told detailed the alleged abuse.
On 21 December 2020, Batool told Saboohi that Sharif would “regret” it if Sara revealed he “hits her like crazy and all the bruises” before adding: “I literally have to push Urfan out the way and save Sara.”
Batool sent 10 photographs showing bruises, saying: “This is how bad he is beating her … I feel really sorry for her, he beats the crap out of her.”
The following evening, Batool told her sister that Sara had cut up Sharif’s clothes and that she had a “jinn in her”. Her sister asked why Sara had done that, to which Batool replied: “God knows. She said Urfan is mean with her, that’s why.”
She said Sharif was “punishing” Sara before adding: “She’s going to stay up all night and do sit ups.”
On 24 January 2021, Batool told Saboohi that Sharif had “beat Sara up like crazy” and “went ballistic” with her.
Describing another incident on 8 May 2021, in a series of messages Batool wrote: “Urfan is going crazy beating Sara up. I’m kind of having a panic attack … He’s literally [going] to break her arm or leg, I have no idea what to do … I’m in the other room, he’s locked us out, he’s not opening the door.”
Saboohi said “don’t worry” and told her sister to read a verse from the Qur’an.
The following day, Batool said things were “not great” at home because “Urfan beat the crap out of Sara”. She said she wanted to report him and was worried about losing custody of the children.
She described how Sara had hidden Sharif’s keys, to which Saboohi responded: “Why doesn’t Sara learn. Don’t be dumb.”
Batool replied: “Why the hell doesn’t Urfan learn, she’s covered in bruises, literally beaten black.”
She added: “Why the hell am I ever letting him in the house. I feel really sorry for Sara, poor girl can’t walk, she literally fainted in the kitchen in the morning, he made her do sit ups all night. It’s been so crazy man, you don’t even understand.”
On 10 February 2022, she said Sharif had beaten Sara at 1.30am in the morning when the girl was asleep “because of the bad behaviour she was doing for a while, he randomly got angry”.
Two days later, Batool said he had beaten Sara again, to which her sister replied that she should “just ignore him man, just put Qur’an on”.
On 11 June 2022, Batool told her sister she was considering removing Sara from school, adding: “Sara’s body is literally bruised because Urfan beat her up, I can’t even cover it up.” She said Sara was beaten for being “rude and rebellious” and “I can’t send her school on Monday looking like that”.
Saboohi said the family should not remove Sara from school, to which Batool replied: “She’s got way too much bruises and stuff and homeschooling isn’t that hard.”
She sent her sister a picture of the bruise and said her body was “worse” before adding: “I have no choice, the social services will get involved.”
Three days later, Batool told her sister that the school was “worried” about Sara and that Sharif had been told to bring her in. Batool said: “Urfan told me to cover it [the bruises] up with make up and she’s going to wear sunglasses.”
In April 2023, Batool said Sara was not eating properly and was trying to make herself vomit. On 25 May she added that Sharif had beaten up Sara “like crazy” and said: “Her oxygen level dropped really low, she’s finding it hard to stay awake … She’s breathing really rapidly.”
The day before Sara died, Saboohi tried to make contact but Batool told her she was “not in the mood to speak”.
Previously, the prosecutor had told jurors that it was in dispute whether messages Batool sent two of her sisters were accurate or gave a full picture.
The trial continues.
