Sara Sharif’s fugitive father, stepmother and uncle have been arrested on suspicion of murder after landing at Gatwick Airport this evening.
Urfan Sharif, 41, his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother Faisal Malik, 28, were arrested after disembarking a flight from Dubai and are currently in custody, Surrey Police said. They will be interviewed in due course.
Sharif and Batool hid in Pakistan for a month after Sara’s body was found in her home and an international manhunt was launched there and in the UK.
An autopsy found the youngster suffered “multiple and extensive injuries” over a “sustained and prolonged” period.
Sara’s mother has been informed of the arrests and is receiving support from specialist officers.
Sara Sharif (pictured) was found dead and alone in her family’s home near Woking, Surrey, on August 10.
Sara’s father (left) and his partner Beinash Batool (right) released a video last week describing the death and confirming they were in hiding.
Surrey Police officers were due to board the Emirates Airbus A380 as soon as it stopped after landing at Gatwick Airport at 7.28pm this evening.
The three men arrived at Gatwick Airport shortly after 7.30pm today aboard an Emirates Airbus A380 from Sialkot, in the eastern province of Punjab, via Dubai, before police intervened and takes them for questioning in connection with Sara’s death.
The couple and Malik, according to their lawyers, had decided to return to Britain and report to police after hiding in Pakistan for a month.
Sara was found dead at the family home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10, a day after the three adults left the UK.
The three adults left Britain with five other children aged between one and 13.
Surrey Police released a statement this evening saying: “Sara’s mother has been informed of this latest update and is being supported by specialist officers. Our thoughts remain with her and with those affected by Sara’s death at this very difficult time.
“This is an extremely fast-paced, difficult and complex investigation and we remain absolutely committed to carrying out a thorough investigation into Sara’s death.”
Urfan Sharif and his partner Beinash Batool are both back in the UK
Tributes outside Sara Sharif’s home, where the little girl’s body was found on August 10
Faisal Malik, brother of Urfan Sharif, is also back in the UK
Sara’s body was found after Mr Sharif alerted police from an unknown location in Pakistan where he had been hiding.
This morning the trio boarded a flight from Pakistan via Dubai and were due to arrive at Gatwick at 7.45pm, although their flight was half an hour early.
The Sharif’s family lawyer Raja Haq Nawaz told MailOnline earlier today that the trio had boarded an Emirates flight from the eastern Pakistani city of Sialkot.
He said they were not under arrest and had voluntarily left for the UK.
Jhelum police spokesperson Mudassar Khan also confirmed that all three had left for the UK.
The couple’s other children were taken into custody by police on Monday at their grandfather’s house and were later released into the care of the government’s Child Protection Office after a court hearing on Tuesday.
The five children remained in Pakistan and are currently being cared for at the Office center in Lahore.
This week the Mail revealed how the family launched a desperate legal bid to prevent his extradition to the UK.
They complained that their freedom of movement and travel had been violated by the police investigation into Sara’s death.
In a petition addressed to the Lahore High Court and filled with errors, including on Sara’s age, the family complained of “being wanted for the murder of Sara’s (sic) daughter, aged around 12/13 years in the UK.”
The girl’s autopsy did not establish the cause of death, but showed she suffered “multiple and extensive injuries, likely caused over a sustained and prolonged period of time.”
Legal documents filed on behalf of (Urfan’s father) Muhammad Sharif said the missing couple and their relatives were “victimized” by police tracking, deprived of their fundamental right to travel and complain of being “deprived » of personal freedoms.
It was argued that Pakistani police had no reason to detain the couple given that they had not committed any offenses in Pakistan and there was no extradition treaty with Britain.
The family’s lawyer, Malik Asif Taufeeq Awan, requested the court to intervene to “protect and save the entire family member, including Urfan Sharif as well as his (sic) wife Benish Batool, from the hands of illegal iron of the defendant authorities”.
The case was due to be heard next week but the couple decided to turn themselves in today.
Five of Sara’s siblings, aged between one and 13 and brought to Pakistan with the adults, were discovered yesterday at the home of Sharif’s father.
A magistrate today placed the children in state protective services.
Surrey Police say they are working with other local and international authorities to ensure the children’s safe return.
But it is unclear where they will ultimately be sent or how long they may be kept in the custody of Pakistan’s child welfare office.
The five children were found by police on Monday evening at the home of Muhammad Urfan in Jhelum, about 175 kilometers (110 miles) northwest of Lahore in central Pakistan.
The children, aged between 1 and 13, were found after Interpol issued them yellow notices, used to help find missing people, often minors.
Olga Sharif with a photo of her daughter Sara who was found dead at her home in Woking, Surrey
Sara’s Polish mother, Olga Sharif, said she could barely recognize her daughter’s small, battered body when she identified her at the morgue last month.
She told Polish television that one of her cheeks was swollen and the other side of her face was bruised.
Olga and Urfan separated in 2015, and Sara and her older brother lived with their mother until a family court ruled in 2019 that they should reside with their father, according to British media.
Sara had been taken out of primary school in April to be home-schooled by her stepmother and was known to the local council’s social services department, according to UK reports.
