‘Inhuman’ violence dished out to Sara Sharif became ‘normalised’ by adults in her home, court told
Urfan Sharif accepted he was a ‘coward’ and admitted beating his daughter after she vomited or soiled herself
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The “inhuman” violence meted out to Sara Sharif was “completely normalised” in the family with all three adults “in on it”, jurors have heard.
Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and brother Faisal Malik, 29, are accused of being party to years-long abuse which culminated in her death last August.
The 10-year-old was found dead at the family home in Woking, Surrey, the day after the defendants fled to Pakistan, the Old Bailey has heard.
She had suffered dozens of injuries, including multiple broken bones, bites, iron and boiling water burns, and signs she was hooded and tied up with tape, the Old Bailey has heard.
Giving evidence, Sharif had initially blamed Batool for Sara’s death, but on the seventh day in the witness box told jurors he took “full responsibility”.
Over the course of six days of evidence at the Old Bailey, Mr Sharif maintained he had not injured his daughter, was regularly at work, and that he had caught Ms Batool tying up and beating his daughter.
On Thursday, Michael Ivers KC, for Mr Malik, began by asking: “For a whole week you tried to blame someone else for what you did?”. “Yes sir,” Mr Sharif replied.
“It’s not just you lied, you lied and then tried to implicate someone else,” Mr Ivers KC continued. “Yes sir,” Mr Sharif said.
Cross-examing for the prosecution, William Emlyn Jones KC asserted Sara was beaten in front of Ms Batool many times and all three adults in the house were involved in childcare.
Alluding to a video played to jurors which showed a family barbecue, with Sara visibly wearing a black eye, the prosecutor suggested that violence towards the little girl had been “normalised” within the family, and that pain had been used as a “deterrent for being naughty”.
Mr Emlyn Jones said that violence to Sara had become “completely normalised in that house. It had become acceptable. It was her life being beaten, being hurt, being punished.”
He referred to a video shown to jurors of Sara at a barbecue saying none of the adults present “bats an eyelid” at her black eye.
The “revolting” practice of tying Sara up with packaging tape had become an alternative method of punishing her when Sharif was not at home, the prosecutor said.
“It’s inhuman isn’t it, Mr Sharif? You can’t bring yourself to admit this. The question is, who is doing it?
“My suggestion is everyone has got to be in on it. Otherwise it just gets undone by someone else.”
Mr Emlyn Jones continued: “You’re a coward aren’t you Mr Sharif?” Sharif replied: “I am a coward sir.”
“It’s only a coward that bullies and beats a little child to make himself feel strong,” the prosecutor added, to which Sharif agreed: “Yes sir”.
Sharif also admitted that he had beaten his daughter after she had soiled herself or had vomited, which had become a regular occurrence in the last months of her life.
He then had no answer as to how his daughter and another child suffered similar domestic iron burns and human bites.
Mr Ivers said: “What are the chances that two children you are connected with ended up with burns from a domestic iron and bite marks?”
Mr Sharif replied: “I was not blamed for that. It wasn’t me. I did not bite.”
Mr Ivers asserted: “Of course it’s not a coincidence, you are the common denominator. Did you tell someone to do so? Did you have an idea how she [Sara] should be punished? Is that the truth of all of this?”.
Sharif replied: “There are certain things I can’t explain. I’ve got no words.”
Earlier, the defendant agreed he had a “credibility problem” because he had not told the truth to the jury during his earlier evidence.
Mr Ivers said: “The oath you took on your holy book meant nothing. Your jury walked by you for a whole week, looked at you and you looked at them, didn’t you? And when you started crying at times, was it real or not? When your eyes went wide, was it an act?”
Mr Sharif said: “It was real. I lost my daughter.”
Mr Ivers suggested Mr Sharif was not mourning his daughter but seeking to tell a “pack of lies” in court.
Pressed on how Sara reacted when she was being hit with a bat, Sharif said: “She must have been in pain.”
Mr Sharif, Ms Batool, and Mr Malik, formerly of Hammond Road, Woking, Surrey, deny murder and causing or allowing Sara’s death and the trial continues.