The father of a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in England called U.K. police after fleeing to Pakistan to admit that he had killed his daughter, prosecutors said Monday.
Urfan Sharif, 42, is on trial at London’s Central Criminal Court on allegations he, his partner Beinash Batool and his brother Faisal Malik murdered Sara Sharif, according to The Associated Press.
Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones said all three defendants played a part in a “campaign of abuse” against Sara in the weeks leading up to her death.
Police found Sara’s body under a blanket in a bunk bed at her home in Woking, which is located southwest of London, on Aug. 10, 2023, with dozens of injuries, including extensive bruising, burns and fractures. The child died of unnatural causes, according to a post-mortem examination.
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Jones said law enforcement learned of Sara’s death after her father called U.K. police from Pakistan and said: “I’ve killed my daughter. I legally punished her, and she died.”
He also told the phone operator he did not intend to kill her, but he had “beat her up too much,” the prosecutor said.
Urfan Sharif, Batool and Malik fled the U.K. for the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Aug. 9.
Police in Pakistan located the three suspects following a search and subsequently sent them to the U.K., where they were arrested upon landing at London’s Gatwick Airport. They were held in prison as they awaited trial.
Jones said the three suspects had lived in the same house as Sara and that it was “inconceivable” that only one of them was responsible for the girl’s death.
The prosecutor said each of the suspects attempted to blame the others for the killing. Urfan Sharif had claimed that Batool, who is Sara’s stepmother, was responsible for the girl’s death and that he made a false confession to protect her.
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A recording of a phone call made on the evening of Aug. 8, 2023, the day Sara was believed to have been killed, was played for the jury. In the recording, Batool can be heard asking about booking a flight to Islamabad for four adults and four children.
The three suspects deny murdering Sara or causing or allowing the girl’s death.
The trial is expected to continue until December.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.