en-year-old Sara Sharif was seen at school with “cuts and bruises” just months before she was found dead, a neighbour has said. Sara was found dead in Woking, after police were called from Pakistan by her father, Urfan Sharif, 41, at 2.50 am on August 10.
The girl’s father, his brother Faisal Malik, 28, and Mr Sharif’s partner, Beinash Batool, 29, are wanted for questioning by Surrey Police.
A neighbour, who identified herself as Jessica has since revealed that, according to her daughter, Sara had gone to St Mary’s primary school in Byfleet with visible injuries in April.
“Just before the Easter holidays she was in school and had cuts and bruises on her face and her neck,” Jessica told the BBC.
“My daughter had asked what had happened and she said she’d fallen off a bike and then kind of walked away. The next day the teacher announced she had left school and she was being homeschooled.”
Sara’s family then moved to Woking and was not seen at the school again.
Another neighbour claimed that Ms Batool had said the girl was being homeschooled after being bullied for wearing a hijab.
“I suggested to Beinash that Sara needed to be with children her age,” said the neighbour. “She replied that she was making friends at the mosque and in her swimming lessons.
“Another time I remarked to Beinash that it must be difficult to homeschool Sara, especially as she had the baby to look after. She said it was very easy as she used BBC Bitesize.”
Sara’s uncle has since told police in Pakistan that the 10-year-old “fell down the stairs and broke her neck”.
Authorities in the eastern province of Punjab are seeking to arrest Urfan and say the girl’s father had briefly returned to the city of Jhelum, before leaving and disappearing.
A post-mortem examination carried out last week did not establish the cause of Sara’s death, but Surrey Detective Superintendent Mark Chapman said officers knew the girl “had suffered multiple and extensive injuries over a sustained and extended period”.
