LONDON: At least 20 houses have been raided by police in Pakistan in the hunt for the missing family of British schoolgirl Sara Sharif.
Authorities searched properties mainly in the cities of Jhelum and Mirpur, where the extended families of Sara’s father Urfan Sharif and stepmother Beinash Batool are from, according to Sky News.
Urfan, his brother Faisal Malik, Batool and five of Urfan’s children are currently in hiding in Pakistan having fled the UK on Aug. 9, the day before Sara’s body was found at the family home in Woking, Sussex.
All three adults are wanted for questioning over the death, which is being treated as murder. A postmortem exam said the 10-year-old suffered “multiple and extensive injuries” over a “sustained and extended” period of time.
On Wednesday, Batool said in a video sent to broadcasters including the BBC and Sky that Sara’s death was “an incident” while offering to cooperate with authorities and “fight our case in court.”
Denying earlier claims by another of Urfan’s brothers, Imran Sharif, that Sara had died after falling down a flight of stairs, Batool said: “Sara’s death was an incident. Our family in Pakistan are severely affected by all that is going on.”
She added: “All the media have been giving wrong statements and making up lies. Imran did not give a statement that Sara fell down the stairs and broke her neck. This was spread through a Pakistani media outlet.
“All of our family members have gone into hiding as everyone is scared for their safety. The kids are unable to attend school as they are afraid to leave the house. No one is leaving the house.
“The groceries have run out and there is no food for the kids as the adults are unable to leave their homes out of fear of safety. That is why we have gone into hiding.
“Lastly, we are willing to cooperate with the UK authorities and fight our case in court.”
On Wednesday, Sara’s mother, Olga Sharif, who separated from Urfan in 2015 and held custody of her daughter and another child from the marriage until 2019, told Polish television program “Uwaga!” she had been unable to recognize her daughter at a mortuary due to the severity of her injuries.
“One of her cheeks was swollen and the other side was bruised. Even now, when I close my eyes, I can see what my baby looked like,” she said.
“They dressed her in Mickey Mouse pajamas and she had a quilt over her. No mother should have to see something like that.”
Olga added that after a court reversed custody of the children in 2019, she was initially able to visit them but had eventually been stopped from seeing Sara or her older brother by Batool.
In a statement, Surrey Police said: “We remain absolutely committed to conducting a thorough investigation into Sara’s death.”
