Timeline of events in Sara Sharif case
Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, and his partner and brother returned to the UK more than a month after leaving for Pakistan.
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Your support makes all the difference.Police are questioning the father of 10-year-old Sara Sharif and two other people in custody, who are being held on suspicion of murder.
They landed in the UK from Pakistan at Gatwick Airport on Wednesday and were immediately arrested by officers after disembarking the plane.
Here is a timeline of the events in the case so far.
– August 9
Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 41, his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and Urfan Sharif’s brother, Faisal Malik, 28, travel to Islamabad, Pakistan, with five children aged between one and 13 years old.
– August 10
Officers from Surrey Police are called from Pakistan by Mr Sharif at about 2.50am to a semi-detached property on Hammond Road in Woking, Surrey, where Sara is found dead. A murder investigation is launched.
– August 15
A post-mortem examination is unable to establish the cause of Sara’s death and further tests are carried out, but the examination shows the child had suffered “multiple and extensive” injuries which were likely to have been caused over a “sustained and extended” period of time.
– August 18
Surrey Police say they would like to speak to Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik in relation to the investigation, with a search for them under way.
– August 19
The Associated Press news agency reports that Pakistani police in the eastern province of Punjab are seeking to arrest Mr Sharif in connection with Sara’s death, with his family home believed to be in the city of Jhelum.
Officer Imran Ahmed said police found evidence that he had briefly returned to Jhelum, before leaving and disappearing.
– August 20
Surrey County Council confirms to the PA news agency Sara was known to the local authority. The search for her father continues.
– August 24
Rawalpindi Region police chief Khurram Ali says the force is “close to locating” Mr Sharif, Ms Batool and Mr Malik, after they had interrogated Mr Sharif’s father, brother and uncle.
Police in the UK issue a fresh appeal for information in the case.
– August 27
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Sara’s grandfather Muhammad Sharif, 68, urges the three individuals to hand themselves in to police.
– August 29
An inquest into Sara’s death is opened at Surrey Coroner’s Court, and hears the precise cause of her death is “not yet ascertained” but is likely to be “unnatural”.
– September 6
In footage sent to broadcasters including the BBC and Sky, Ms Batool, accompanied by Mr Sharif, speaks publicly for the first time since Sara’s death and describes it as “an incident”, saying they are “willing to co-operate with the UK authorities and fight our case in court”.
– September 9
A police spokesman in Jhelum says Mr Sharif and Ms Batool are in hiding and 10 close relatives have been taken into custody for questioning, including Sara’s grandfather Muhammad Sharif.
– September 11
The BBC reports that five children have been taken from the home of Muhammad Sharif, with dozens of police officers raiding the property in Jhelum.
Eyewitness accounts say officers broke CCTV cameras at the property, stopped traffic and prevented passers-by from filming. The children were later returned.
The whereabouts of Urfan Sharif, Ms Batool and Mr Malik are still unknown.
– September 12
A court rules that the five children will be sent temporarily to a government childcare facility in Pakistan.
In the UK, Surrey Police say they are working to secure the safe return of the siblings from Pakistan.
– September 13
Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik land in the UK at Gatwick Airport on an Emirates flight from Sialkot, Pakistan, via Dubai, and are arrested on suspicion of murder immediately after leaving the plane.
Sialkot police spokesman Khan Mudassir said the three individuals were handed over to the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency.