LONDON: A London court has found the father and stepmother guilty in the murder case of 10-year-old Sarah Sharif.
According to British media, during a four-day hearing, the Pakistani-origin father retracted his previous statement and confessed to abusing Sarah.
Sarah’s father admitted that her stepmother had been repeatedly beating the 10-year-old for several weeks.
Father Irfan Sharif further said that Sarah’s death was due to the brutal violence of her stepmother. He added, “It happened because of me.”
After the confession, the court said that this was a case of domestic violence, involving a family where child abuse is considered acceptable.
The judge remarked that the innocent 10-year-old girl had likely been living in this hell for some time, enduring daily abuse.
The jury, while delivering the verdict, found Sarah’s father Irfan Sharif, stepmother Benish Batool and uncle Faisal Malik guilty of her murder.
The court ruling said that Faisal Malik, the uncle, could have intervened to stop the abuse but failed to take responsibility. The judge further regretted that the three culprits fled to Pakistan after seeing the child die.
