A 10-year-old girl whose death sparked an international manhunt was previously known to the authorities, Surrey county council has confirmed.
Sara Sharif was found dead at her home near Woking on 10 August having suffered multiple and extensive injuries, which Surrey police said were likely to have been caused “over a sustained and extended period of time”.
The force has confirmed it wants to speak to Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 41, as well as his partner, Beinash Batool, 29, and brother, Faisal Malik, 28.
On Friday, the council said the National Child Safeguarding Panel had been notified of the death and a multi-agency rapid review was under way.
“We are working tirelessly with our safeguarding partners to gain a full understanding of the situation as quickly as possible,” said council leader Tim Oliver in a statement.
“This is an incredibly sad situation, and our thoughts and deepest condolences are with everyone affected.”
In a further statement on Sunday, a spokesperson confirmed the girl was “known to” the council. They added that it could not comment further during the review process.
The rapid review will determine whether a local child safeguarding practice review should take place.
In such a case, organisations including the police, council and an NHS clinical commissioning group would review the practice of the agencies involved in the case.
Officers have said Urfan Sharif travelled to Islamabad in Pakistan with Batool and Malik on 9 August – the day before Sara’s body was discovered.
BBC News said it had spoken to a travel agent in Woking who said he was contacted by Sharif at about 10pm on 8 August, asking to book tickets to the country as soon as possible.
Surrey police have previously said Sharif made a 999 call from Pakistan shortly after landing.
The group had five children with them, ranging from the age of one to 13. Sharif’s family home is in Jhelum, Punjab, about 135km (84 miles) from the capital.
According to the Associated Press, Pakistani police in the eastern province are seeking to arrest Sharif in connection with his daughter’s death.
Officer Imran Ahmed reportedly told the news agency that police had found evidence he had briefly returned to Jhelum before disappearing.
Surrey police said it was working with international agencies, including Interpol, the National Crime Agency and the UK Foreign Office, to carry out their investigation and liaise with Pakistani authorities.
The UK does not have a formal extradition treaty with Pakistan, but people have been extradited before.
A postmortem examination earlier this week did not establish Sara’s cause of death, the force said, but it did show Sara had suffered multiple and extensive injuries likely sustained over an extended period of time.
On Friday, Det Supt Mark Chapman, from its major crime team, said Sara’s injuries had “significantly changed the nature of our investigation, and we have widened the timescale and focus of our inquiry”.
Sara’s mother has been informed and is being supported by specially trained officers, police added.
A public appeal has been made for anyone who knew Sara or has information about her to come forward to police, but the force has said it is not seeking to identify anyone else in connection with the investigation.
