Sara Sharif’s ‘evil psycho’ step-mother is the ‘true villain’, father tells court
The father of Sara Sharif has described her step-mother as "an evil psycho" and denied that he or his brother would have "bit[ten] his daughter like an animal".
Urfan Sharif has claimed in a murder trial that his wife, Beinash Batool, is the "true villain" and says he was unaware of the abuse she was allegedly inflicting on his child.
The 42-year-old told jurors at the Old Bailey that he slapped his daughter on "multiple occasions" but insisted he never beat her.
Mr Sharif, Ms Batool, 30 and Sara's uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, are all on trial accused of the ten-year-old's murder.
Sara was found dead in bed at her home in Woking, Surrey, on Aug 10, 2023. She had more than 70 injuries, including bruises, fractures, burns and bite marks.
Sara's father has spent the past two days giving evidence, and on Thursday, he repeatedly denied having any knowledge of the alleged "campaign of abuse" his daughter was subjected to before her death.
'I didn't do it'
He told the court that he would often come home from work and his wife would tell him that Sara had been abusive towards her siblings.
He said his wife accused Sara of being responsible for "every single thing that happened" and that he slapped his daughter as a punishment "multiple times" but only because he was "made to" by Ms Batool.
Pointing at his wife in the dock, he said: "That poor girl was always being accused by that psycho sitting there."
He said: "I should not have believed her... I never knew I was living with this evil psycho."
His barrister, Naeem Mian KC, responded: "But according to her you're the psycho?"
Mr Mian asked him if he had ever "branded Sara on her bottom" or bitten her.
The court previously heard that Sara had been burned with an iron and bitten in the weeks before she died.
Mr Sharif replied that he had not.
He added: "I gave you a dental impression to find out who the person [was] who bit my daughter like an animal.
"I didn't do it, Faisal didn't do it, who else was at home?"
Jurors heard that Mr Sharif and Mr Malik provided the police with dental impressions to prove they were not responsible for bite marks found on Sara.
Ms Batool refused to provide dental impressions.
'She washed dishes on the day she passed away'
The court previously heard that, in the months before she died, Sara had been forced to wear a hijab to school to hide bruises on her face and head.
Mr Sharif said that Sara wore the headscarf around the house, and he was told by Ms Batool that it had been her idea to begin wearing it.
He claimed that he asked his wife why it was necessary for Sara to wear a hijab while at home, and he was told it was so "she would get into the habit of wearing it".
He denied it had been his idea and said "no one in my family wears a hijab" but pointed out that Ms Batool's sisters did.
The taxi driver said that shortly before Sara died, Ms Batool also told him that his daughter needed to start wearing a nappy because she had lost control of her bladder and was "going through that time of the month".
He said his wife told him: "We need to put a nappy on her because her body is changing, she is growing up, she is going through that time of the month," adding: "She said she does the same thing."
Mr Sharif claimed he wanted to take Sara to the doctors but Ms Batool told him that it was normal and happened to "every girl".
He said that his daughter would regularly do the dishes and help with the laundry.
"She even washed the dishes on the day she passed away she washed the laundry in the machine," he said.
"When I came home from work I saw her doing the dishes."
All three defendants have denied murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between Dec 16, 2022, and Aug 9, 2023.
