Police raid at least 20 homes in Pakistan in hunt for Sara Sharif's family
7 September 2023, 12:07 | Updated: 8 September 2023, 14:53
Police in Pakistan have raided 20 homes in the hunt for 10-year-old Sara Sharif's relatives.
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Sara's father, Urfan Sharif, and her stepmother, Beinash Batool, are believed to have travelled to Pakistan the day before she was found dead at home in Woking last month.
Police are now hunting for the pair as well as Sara's uncle, Faisal Shahzad Malik.
The ongoing raids are understood to be concentrated in Jhelum and Mirpur, according to Sky.
It comes after Sara's father and stepmother said they were willing to co-operate with UK authorities in a public video shared on Wednesday.
Read more: Sara Sharif 'so badly injured her own mother did not recognise her at the mortuary'
Sara Shariff: Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool say they are willing to cooperate with UK authorities
Ms Batool described Sara's death as an "incident", saying: "Firstly, I would like to talk about Sara. Sara's death was an incident. Our family in Pakistan are severely affected by all that is going on."
She continued: "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're 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 for safety."
Ms Batool ended the video saying: "Lastly, we are willing to cooperate with the UK authorities and fight our case in court."
An inquest held last month could not give Sara's cause of death, though said it was likely to be "unnatural".
A post-mortem examination showed the 10-year-old had "suffered multiple and extensive injuries" - "likely to have been caused over a sustained and extended period of time".
Her mother previously said she was so badly injured she could not recognise her in the mortuary.
"One of her cheeks was swollen and the other side was bruised," Olga Sharif said.
"Even now, when I close my eyes I can see what my baby looked like."
