Murdered girl 'was failed by the system'

MURDERED 10-year-old Sara Sharif was “failed by the safeguarding system” in multiple ways throughout her short life, according to a review which said her father’s domestic abuse had been overlooked and underestimated.

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The report into numerous missed opportunities concluded that while a “great deal of information” was available to various authorities, even safeguarding professionals appeared to have been “groomed and manipulated” by her killer father, Urfan Sharif.

Sara, pictured inset, who was found dead in a bunkbed at the family home in Woking, Surrey, in August 2023, suffered what was described as “horrific abuse” at the hands of Sharif and her stepmother, Beinash Batool. Sharif and Batool were jailed for life with minimum terms of 40 years and 33 years respectively in December last year, after being found guilty of her murder.

Sara's uncle, Faisal Malik, was found guilty of causing or allowing her death and jailed for 16 years.

Their trial heard how Sharif had repeated contact with Surrey social services before he was charged with murdering his daughter.