Pakistan(National Times)- The father of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in her home in Britain, has accepted \u201cfull responsibility\u201d for her death, admitting to beating her with a cricket bat and metal pole. Sara was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London, after what prosecutors say was a campaign of “serious and repeated violence”. Her father Urfan Sharif, 42, his wife and Sara Sharif’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and the girl’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, are on trial at London’s Old Bailey, where they all deny murder and an alternative charge of causing or allowing her death. Sharif said he had initially taken responsibility for saving his family, but later giving evidence in court blamed his wife for killing his daughter. But on Wednesday, he said: \u201cI admit what I said in a 999 call and my handwritten confession. Every single word.\u201d During cross-examination by his wife Batool\u2019s barrister, Caroline Carberry KC, he was asked: \u201cDid you kill your daughter by beating?\u201d He replied: \u201cYes, she died because of me.\u201d He admitted he beat Sara \u201cseverely\u201d over several weeks because he was angry that the schoolgirl had started soiling herself and vomiting. \u00a0 Carberry further asked, \u201cYou have pleaded not guilty to the offence of murder. Would you like that charge to be put to you again?\u201d He replied in the affirmative. Meanwhile, Sharif\u2019s barrister, Naeem Mian KC, stood up and asked for time to speak to his defendant. He told the court, \u201cWe would like to make an application to see Sharif before any indictment is to put him.\u201d At his stage, Batool left the dock sobbing and the trial was briefly suspended. When Sharif returned to the witness stand, he took full responsibility for Sara\u2019s death and for killing her by beating. Carberry asked, \u201cWhat had she done to deserve such beatings in your mind?\u201d Sharif replied: \u201cNothing.\u201d She continued: \u201cWhy were you beating her so forcefully?\u201d He replied: \u201cI was wrong.\u201d A postmortem examination found the 10-year-old girl had fractures and 71 external injuries, including burns and human bite marks. Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC previously said a bloodstained cricket bat, a rolling pin with Sara\u2019s DNA on it, a metal pole, a belt and rope were found near the family\u2019s outhouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan(National Times)- The father of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in her home in Britain, has accepted \u201cfull responsibility\u201d for her death, admitting to beating her with a cricket bat and metal pole. Sara was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London, after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n