Police officers escort a relative and a child of a couple wanted by British police in connection with last month's death of their 10-year-old daughter on the outskirts of London, to appear them in a court in Jhelum, about 175 kilometres (110 miles) northwest of Lahore in central Pakistan, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. A Pakistani court ordered the five siblings of a 10-year-old girl who was found dead at her British home put in the custody of a children's protection center after they were recovered following a notice from Interpol. The police are continuing their search for the girl’s father and stepmother in connection with her death. (AP Photo/Tahir Mahmood)
Sharif family lawyer, Attiq Malik, outside Guildford Magistrates' Court, in Guildford, England, Friday Sept. 15, 2023. The father, stepmother and uncle of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl found dead in her U.K. home appeared in court on murder charges Friday after being arrested and deported from Pakistan after an extensive police search. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
Police officers escort a relative and a child of a couple wanted by British police in connection with last month's death of their 10-year-old daughter on the outskirts of London, to appear them in a court in Jhelum, about 175 kilometres (110 miles) northwest of Lahore in central Pakistan, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. A Pakistani court ordered the five siblings of a 10-year-old girl who was found dead at her British home put in the custody of a children's protection center after they were recovered following a notice from Interpol. The police are continuing their search for the girl’s father and stepmother in connection with her death. (AP Photo/Tahir Mahmood)
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Sharif family lawyer, Attiq Malik, outside Guildford Magistrates' Court, in Guildford, England, Friday Sept. 15, 2023. The father, stepmother and uncle of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl found dead in her U.K. home appeared in court on murder charges Friday after being arrested and deported from Pakistan after an extensive police search. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — The father, stepmother and uncle of a 10-year-old girl found dead in her U.K. home appeared in court on murder charges Friday after being arrested and deported from Pakistan after an extensive police search.
Sara Sharif was at her home in Woking, 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of London, on Aug. 10. Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 41; his partner Beinash Batool, 29; and his 28-year-old brother, Faisal Malik are charged with murder and causing or allowing the death of a child. They appeared for a brief hearing at Guildford Magistrates’ Court near Woking, speaking only to confirm their names, dates of birth and addresses.
They were not asked to enter pleas, but their lawyers said they deny the charges. They were ordered detained until their next court hearing on Tuesday.
The three suspects had traveled to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital along with five children, a day before police discovered the girl’s body.
Prosecutor Amanda Burrows told the court that police went to the family home in Woking after receiving a call from Pakistan on Aug. 10. Officers found the 10-year-old dead in a bed under a blanket. An autopsy did not establish a cause of death, but the prosecutor said it showed Sara had healed fractures and other injuries indicating “multiple events of violence."
Pakistani police began a search and , 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 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.
