Police working towards safe return of Sara Sharif’s siblings

Surrey Police said it had been working with Surrey County Council and international authorities after a Pakistani court ruled the children would be temporarily moved to a government childcare facility on Tuesday.

Sara’s siblings, aged between one and 13 years old, travelled to Pakistan on August 9 with Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, his partner Beinash Batool and Urfan’s brother, Faisal Malik.

Sara was found dead when officers were called from Pakistan by her dad at 2.50am on August 10.

A post-mortem examination found she had suffered “multiple and extensive injuries” over a “sustained and extended” period of time.

Detective Superintendent Mark Chapman, from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police Major Crime Team, said: “The safety and welfare of these five children has always been a priority for us. A court hearing today has ruled that they will be taken to a Pakistani government childcare facility and we will continue to support our partners in ensuring that the welfare of the five children remains a priority.

“Our inquiries remain ongoing to locate Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik, who we would like to speak to as part of our inquiries into Sara’s death.

“We are continuing to liaise with our international partners, including Interpol, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the National Crime Agency, to determine the next steps.

“We remain absolutely committed to conducting a thorough investigation into Sara’s death.”

The children were taken from the home of Sara’s grandfather Muhammad in a police raid at his property in Jhelum, Pakistan, on Monday, before later being returned.

Witness accounts from the scene said officers broke CCTV cameras at the property, stopped traffic and prevented passers-by from filming the incident.

On Tuesday, the children were carried by family members into court for around 40 minutes before being moved to another court as authorities tried to decide on their next steps, the BBC reported.

Muhammad Sharif told the BBC he had been hiding the children in his home, but did not specify for how long.

Last week, Sara’s stepmother Ms Batool spoke publicly for the first time since the girl was found dead.

In a clip of the footage posted online by Sky, Ms Batool described Sara’s death as “an incident” and said she and Mr Sharif are willing to co-operate with UK authorities over the case.

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