Sara Sharif’s cause of death ‘not yet ascertained’, inquest hears

The 10-year-old’s body was found at a property in Woking after police were called from Pakistan by her father, Urfan Sharif, on August 10.
Sara Sharif (Surrey Police/PA)
PA Media
Ted Hennessey29 August 2023
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The cause of death of a 10-year-old girl whose body was found in her Surrey home, sparking an international manhunt, has not yet been determined, an inquest has heard.

Sara Sharif’s body was found at a property in Hammond Road, Woking, after police were called from Pakistan by her father, Urfan Sharif, on August 10.

The precise cause of death is “not yet ascertained” but is likely to be “unnatural”, an inquest opening into her death at Surrey Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday.

Coroner Simon Wickens confirmed Sara was born in Slough, Berkshire, on January 11 2013.

He then adjourned inquest proceedings until February 29 2024 to allow Surrey Police to carry out their investigations.

Mr Wickens offered his “sincere condolences” to all those “touched by Sara’s short life”.

Police believe Mr Sharif, 41, his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother Faisal Malik, 28, fled to Islamabad the day before the youngster’s body was discovered.

The case has sparked a huge manhunt involving detectives from the two countries.

Surrey Police are continuing to appeal for information to help them piece together a picture of Sara’s lifestyle prior to her death.

They widened the timescale of their investigation after the post-mortem examination revealed that Sara had suffered multiple and extensive injuries, likely to have been caused over a sustained and extended period of time.

Sara’s mother, Olga Sharif, is being supported by specialist officers.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in