Inside Sara Sharif’s unassuming house of horrors where schoolgirl was beaten to death

The 10-year-old was repeatedly abused in a household that ‘completely normalised’ violence towards her

Police officers stand outside Sharif’s house on Hammond Road in Woking on 10 August 2023 (PA)

To outsiders, the terraced council house on Hammond Road in Woking would have looked no different to those of its neighbours.

A proud homeowner, Beinash Batool, 30, had ensured that her family home was always in pristine condition, with a clear kitchen and a spotless living room.

Little were people to know that her 10-year-old stepdaughter Sara Sharif was the one forced to carry out the cleaning and laundry, and that within those four walls she was being horrifically abused and degraded by her own family.

In the final months of her life, the schoolgirl suffered more than 70 injuries including 25 fractures, and was punished for being “naughty” with a cricket bat and a metal pole.

An immaculate bedroom at the family home after Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool fled to Pakistan (Surrey Police)

Other excruciating wounds included a traumatic brain injury, a burn from a domestic iron and scalding to her ankles which was caused by boiling water while she was restrained.

There was also evidence she had been bound with packaging tape and hooded during the assaults, which would have left her in excruciating pain.

Following a traumatic trial at the Old Bailey, her father Urfan Sharif, 42, and his wife Batool have been found guilty of his murder, while his brother Faisal Malik, 29, was convicted of causing or allowing her death.

Pictures taken by police from inside the property show a clean and comfortable living area, with grey sofas and cushions and artwork on the walls.

A large bedroom shows that the couple maintained an immaculate household, with their bedroom showing scant signs of mess or anything untoward that would indicate to the abuse Sara suffered.

Neighbours reported Sara regularly being seen carrying out household chores (Surrey Police)

She was beaten to death four years after taxi driver Sharif was awarded custody, despite accusations of abuse against him, jurors heard.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said Sharif had gone on to create a “culture of violent discipline”, where assaults on Sara had “become completely routine, completely normalised”.

Batool had told her sisters that Sharif would regularly “beat the crap” out of Sara over the course of more than two years, but failed to report what was going on.

By January 2023, Sara began wearing a hijab to cover up the bruises at school.

Teachers noticed marks on her face and referred her to social services in March of that year, but the case was dropped within days.

Her father hit her in the stomach twice as she lay dying (Surrey Police)

On August 8 last year, Sara collapsed, with her father hitting her in her stomach with a pole for “pretending” while she was lying close to death.

Within hours of her passing away, the couple were arranging flights to Pakistan for the next day for themselves and the rest of the family.

The defendants returned to the UK on 13 September 2023, leaving behind other children who had travelled with them, and were detained within minutes of a flight touching down at Gatwick airport.

Giving evidence in his trial, Sharif initially blamed Batool for the violence, claiming he was working when his daughter was abused.

On the seventh day of his evidence, he dramatically changed his story and took “full responsibility” for Sara’s death.