LONDON: The father, stepmother and uncle of a 10-year-old girl found dead in her UK home pleaded not guilty on Thursday to murder charges.
Sara Sharif’s body was discovered under a blanket in a bunk bed at her home in southern England on Aug. 10. Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 41; his partner Beinash Batool, 29; and his brother, 28-year-old Faisal Malik, are charged with murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The three suspects, who are remanded in a prison, appeared by video link on Thursday at London’s Central Criminal Court to deny the charges ahead of a trial scheduled for September 2024.
The trio had left the UK for Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, a day before police discovered the girl’s body in Woking, 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of London.
Police in Pakistan found the three defendants after an extensive search and put them on a flight to the UK on Sept. 13. They were arrested upon arriving at London’s Gatwick Airport.
Prosecutors have said that the 10-year-old girl was found with extensive injuries and healed fractures that indicated “multiple events of violence.”
They also said that police found the body after receiving a call from Pakistan.
Pakistani father, stepmother of 10-year-old found dead in UK deny murder charges
https://arab.news/2588y
Pakistani father, stepmother of 10-year-old found dead in UK deny murder charges
- Sara Sharif, 10, was found dead at her home in southern England on Aug. 10
- Sara’s father, his partner and his brother are charged with murdering her
Babar Azam dropped for scoring too slowly, says Pakistan coach Hesson
- Shaheen Shah Afridi was left out after conceding 101 runs in three matches
- Pakistan will now face New Zealand in the opening match of the second phase
COLOMBO: Batting great Babar Azam was dropped for Pakistan’s final T20 World Cup group game against Namibia for scoring too slowly, said head coach Mike Hesson on Friday.
Azam, who is the highest run-scorer in T20 international history with 4,571 runs, was left out for the must-win game against Namibia as Pakistan racked up 199-3 and secured a place in the Super Eights by 102 runs.
The 2009 champions face New Zealand in Colombo on Saturday in the opening match of the second phase.
“I think Babar is well aware that his strike rate in the power play in the World Cup is less than 100 and that’s clearly not the role we think we need,” Hesson told reporters after Pakistan’s final practice session on Friday was washed out by rain.
Pakistan left out Azam for the same reason at last year’s Asia Cup and even after dismal showing in the Big Bash League, he was still selected for the T20 World Cup.
“We brought Babar back in for a specific role post the Asia Cup,” said Hesson.
“We’ve got plenty of other options who can come in and perform that role toward the end.
“Babar is actually the first to acknowledge that.
“He knows that he’s got a certain set of skills that the team requires and there are certain times where other players can perform that role more efficiently.”
Hesson also defended dropping pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi after he conceded 101 runs in three matches, including 31 in two overs against India.
“We made a call that Salman Mirza was coming in for Shaheen, and he bowled incredibly well,” said Hesson.
“To be fair, he was probably really unlucky to not be playing the second and third games.”
Hesson was wary of Pakistan’s opponents on Saturday.
“New Zealand have played a huge amount in the subcontinent in recent times so we have to play at our best.”
