Trio wanted in Sara Sharif's death on way to UK, say police

Three suspects linked to death of Sara Sharif in the UK are voluntarily returning to cooperate with authorities

The British-Pakistani father of a 10-year-old girl found dead at her home in England last month was on a plane back to the UK with his partner and brother, police said Wednesday, after the trio went on the run for weeks.

Sara Sharif was found dead in the southern UK town of Woking on August 10 and a post-mortem test revealed she had suffered "multiple and extensive injuries" over a sustained period, British police said last month.

"We can confirm the three suspects in the case boarded a flight earlier and are on their way to the UK," police spokesman Mudassar Khan told AFP, adding that they had voluntarily gone with the knowledge of authorities.

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British police had previously said that Urfan Sharif, 41, his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother Faisal Malik, 28, fled to Pakistan to take refuge with relatives before the girl's body was found, sparking an international manhunt.

"I confirm that they have not been arrested but they left voluntarily," Raja Haq Nawaz, a lawyer for Urfan Sharif's father Mohammad Sharif in Pakistan, told AFP.

He said the three were on a flight that left from Sialkot.