Father called British police and confessed to killing his 10-year-old daughter in England after fleeing to Pakistan

The father of a 10-year-old girl found dead in England called British police after fleeing to Pakistan and admitted he had killed his daughter, prosecutors said Monday.

According to the Associated Press, 42-year-old Urfan Sharif is standing trial at London’s Central Criminal Court on charges that he, his partner Beinash Batool and his brother Faisal Malik murdered Sara Sharif.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones said all three defendants took part in a “campaign of abuse” against Sara in the weeks before her death.

On August 10, 2023, police found Sara’s body under a blanket in a bunk bed at her home in Woking, southwest London, with dozens of injuries including severe bruising, burns and fractures. According to an autopsy, the child died of unnatural causes.

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Jones said law enforcement learned of Sara’s death after her father called British police from Pakistan and said: “I killed my daughter. I punished her legally and she died.”

He also told the operator that he didn’t intend to kill her, but he “beat her up too much,” the prosecutor said.

Urfan Sharif, Batool and Malik fled Britain to the Pakistani capital Islamabad on August 9.

Pakistani police located the three suspects after a search and then sent them to the UK, where they were arrested upon landing at London’s Gatwick Airport. They were held in prison while awaiting trial.

A view of HM Coroner’s Court Surrey in Woking, following the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, who was found dead at a property on Hammond Road in Woking, Surrey, on August 10. (Getty Images)

Jones said the three suspects lived in the same house as Sara and it was “inconceivable” that only one of them was responsible for the girl’s death.

The prosecutor said each of the suspects tried to blame the other for the murder. Urfan Sharif had claimed that Batool, Sara’s stepmother, was responsible for the girl’s death and that he made a false confession to protect her.

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Sharif family lawyer Attiq Malik outside Guildford Magistrates Court, where Urfan Sharif, the father of Sara Sharif, is among three people to stand trial on Friday for the murder of the ten-year-old. (Getty Images)

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The jury was played a recording of a telephone conversation made on the evening of August 8, 2023, the day Sara was allegedly killed. In the recording, Batool can be heard asking about booking a flight to Islamabad for four adults and four children.

The three suspects deny murdering Sara or causing or allowing the girl’s death.

The trial is expected to last until December.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.