Sara Sharif was ‘Burned with Iron’ & suffered 11 Spinal Fractures

Sara Sharif endured a campaign of abuse which included being burned with an iron, and suffering 11 separate spinal fractures.

Sara Sharif was 'Burned with Iron' & suffered 11 Spinal Fractures f

"There are other, perhaps even more disturbing, types of injury."

A court heard that Sara Sharif was burned with an iron, tied to a heating pipe and suffered bite marks, bruises and 11 separate fractures to her spine in the weeks before her death.

The 10-year-old suffered fractures to her right collar bone, both shoulder blades, both arms, both hands, three fingers, bones near her wrists and two ribs.

Some of the fractures were estimated to be at least six weeks old while others were fewer than 10 days old.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC said multiple fractures to Sara’s hyoid bone indicated there had been incidents where she had been strangled.

He told jurors at the Old Bailey: “There are other, perhaps even more disturbing, types of injury.

“The evidence shows that Sara appears to have been bitten.”

The court previously heard how her father Urfan Sharif fled to Pakistan after battering his daughter to death.

In a 999 call from Pakistan, he is said to have told police:

“I beat her up, it wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much.”

Sharif allegedly told police it was because she was “naughty”.

Police rushed to the family home in Surrey in August 2023 where they found Sara’s body lying under the covers in her bunk bed.

Beside her body was a note allegedly written by Sharif which read:

“It’s me Urfan Sharif who killed my daughter by beating. I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her. But I lost it.

“I am running away because I am scared.”

There were five bite marks on Sara’s lower left arm and one on her inner left thigh.

Mr Emlyn Jones said: “The two male defendants have provided dental impressions for the purposes of comparison – and they have both been excluded – the expert’s opinion is that their teeth exclude them from being responsible.

“Beinash Batool has refused to provide a dental impression for comparison purposes.”

Sara Sharif also suffered burn injuries.

Mr Emlyn Jones continued: “Not only are these horrible and clearly extremely painful injuries, but the apparent manner of their infliction tells us a good deal about how Sara was being treated.

“You can see two areas of injury to the buttocks, with the wound to the right buttock clearly much the larger of the two.

“That wound to the right buttock was approximately 50x60mm. It was a full-thickness defect meaning that the overlying skin has been completely lost.

“There was no evidence of residual adhesives, such as you might find if a dressing had been applied to the wound.

“In Dr Martin’s view, this injury had been caused by contact with a hot, flat surface.

Specifically, it appears to have been caused by the sole-plate of a domestic iron, applied with pressure.

“In his view, this had been done at least two weeks prior to Sara’s death, and probably longer than that.

“It would, of course, have been extremely painful and had not been treated.”

An iron was recovered from the house and Sara’s injuries correspond with the size and shape of that iron.

Mr Emlyn Jones added: “It is a matter for you, of course, but you may have little difficulty in concluding that the application of a hot iron to that part of Sara’s body can only have been deliberate.”

Sharif, his wife Beinash Batool and his younger brother Faisal Malik have all been charged with murder.

Mr Emlyn Jones said the three defendants played a part in a “campaign of abuse” that led to Sara’s death.

He told jurors: “Ask yourselves, how could just one person have carried out so much abuse, so many assaults, without the others knowing about it and witnessing it with their own eyes?

“If any one of them was not a part of it, but had seen it, why then was nothing done to stop it, or report it?

“Each of them denies that they were the one responsible for any of that violence and abuse.

“Each of them seeks to deflect the blame onto one or both of the others, to shift responsibility away from themselves, onto someone else.

“In other words, they are pointing the finger at each other.”

The trio deny murder.

The trial continues.

Lead Editor Dhiren is our news and content editor who loves all things football. He also has a passion for gaming and watching films. His motto is to "Live life one day at a time".



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