Father of 10-year-old UK girl Sara Sharif among 3 charged with her murder after Pakistan arrest

The father, stepmother and uncle of a 10-year-old girl found dead in her UK home are due in court on murder charges Friday after being arrested and deported from Pakistan after an extensive police search.

Sara Sharif was found dead with extensive injuries at her home in Woking, 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of London, on August 10. An autopsy did not establish a cause of death but showed that she had suffered “multiple and extensive injuries, which are likely to have been caused over a sustained and extended period of time,” British police said.

Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 41; his partner Beinash Batool, 29; and his 28-year-old brother Faisal Malik were charged early Friday with murder and causing or allowing the death of a child. They were due to appear later at Guildford Magistrates' Court near Woking.

The three suspects, along with five children, had travelled to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, a day before police discovered the girl’s body.

Pakistani police began a search and detained 10 relatives of Urfan Sharif, including his father, brothers and cousins, for interrogation in an attempt to pressure the couple to surrender.

The three suspects were arrested by police in Pakistan on Wednesday and put on a flight to Gatwick Airport, where they were arrested.

The girl’s five siblings, ranging in age from 1 to 13, were recovered by Pakistani police on Monday evening from Urfan Sharif’s family home in central Pakistan. A court ordered the children to be placed in the custody of the Child Protection Bureau in Rawalpindi city, close to Islamabad.

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