Pakistani police join hunt for father sought in connection with death of 10-year-old in Woking

Pakistani police are searching for a manwho British authorities would like to speak with in connection with the death of his 10-year-old daughter, officers in the eastern Punjab province said Saturday.

Sara Sharif was found dead at her home in Woking on 10 August – one day after three people police wish to speak with in connection with the death, including her father and stepmother, are thought to have left the UK.

A post-mortem examination, which took place on Tuesday, did not establish a cause of death but revealed the child had suffered “multiple and extensive” injuries – which were likely caused over a “sustained and extended” period of time.

Pakistani police official Imran Ahmed said on Saturday that officers found evidence that Mr Sharif briefly returned to his family home in Jhelum, Punjab, before leaving. It is unclear where he went after this.

UK police are working with international agencies, including Interpol, the National Crime Agency and the UK Foreign Office, to progress their enquiries with Pakistani authorities.

They identified her father Mr Sharif, his partner, Beinash Batool, and Mr Sharif’s brother, Faisal Malik, as people they want to speak to as part of their investigation.

Mr Sharif is thought to have travelled to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad withMs Batool and Mr Malik on 9 August with their children, police said.

Detective Superintendent Mark Chapman of Surrey Police said investigators are trying to “piece together a picture of Sara’s lifestyle”, calling on the public for help.

“That is why we are appealing for anyone who knew Sara, had any form of contact with her, or has any other information about her, no matter how insignificant it might seem, to come forward as soon as possible.

“In the meantime, I would like to reassure you that we are doing everything possible, including working with our partners and international agencies, to ensure that those responsible for Sara’s tragic and untimely death are brought to justice.”

It comes as lawyers in the UK have said Pakistan’s government is “unlikely” to block any extradition request in connection to Sara’s death – even though the UK does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan.

Human rights lawyer Karen Todner, who specialises in criminal defence and extradition, said it “shouldn’t be too difficult to arrange an extradition from Pakistan”.

She said: “It shouldn’t be difficult at all, objections to extradition tend to be allegations of breaches of the human rights act and obviously the UK is generally considered to be one of the most compliant countries.

“Most countries would extradite to the UK.

“They have to issue a warrant and there would have to be an ad hoc arrangement between the two countries so they would just make a formal request to Pakistan for the extradition, and it would then be presented in court, it would be what called an accusation warrant.

“The UK would make a request to the Pakistani government for their arrest, they would then be arrested and face extradition proceedings in Pakistan.

“It would be, in my view, unlikely that it would be refused, I think it would be accepted and that they would then be extradited to the UK.”

Edward Grange, a partner at law firm Corker Binning, said arrest warrants would first need to be issued in the UK and a memorandum of understanding agreed between the two countries.

He said there are “at least two or three examples” of people being returned from Pakistan to the UK, but none the other way around.

But he added: “You cannot extradite somebody simply for the purposes of questioning, so they can’t just be a suspect.

“You’ve got to have taken a decision that there’s sufficient evidence for the individual to be charged with the offence and it requires a warrant of arrest to be issued in the UK by a UK judge for that individual.

“At this moment in time, not knowing a huge amount about the case apart from what’s in the public domain, is that they’re obviously at the early stages of this very sad, tragic case and individuals who obviously are key persons that they want to speak to have left the jurisdiction.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “As a matter of long-standing policy and practice, we neither confirm nor deny the existence of extradition requests.”

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “It would not be appropriate for the FCDO to comment on an ongoing police investigation.”

Sara’s mother is being supported by specialist officers and police say she has not been in contact with her ex-husband.

Olga Sharif described her daughter as “an amazing child” in an interview with The Sun and told the newspaper that her life “will never be the same again”.

Additional reporting by Press Association