Legal battle ongoing in Pak, UK courts over custody of Sarah’s siblings

The courts in the United Kingdom and Pakistan are involved in a legal battle to decide what should happen to the siblings of Sarah Sharif, whose body was found at her home in Woking, southern England, on Aug 10.

According to the BBC, a post-mortem examination found she had sustained multiple and extensive injuries over a long period.

Sarah’s father, Urfan Sharif, her step-mother Beinash Batool and his brother Faisal Malik had left the UK for Pakistan with five other children the day before her body was discovered. They were arrested after disembarking from a flight from Dubai in September and pleaded not guilty. Their trial is expected to start in September 2024.

The BBC stated that a series of hearings had been held in the Family Division of the London High Court after Sara’s death over the custody of the siblings.

During the hearings, the children had been made wards of court – someone under the protection of the courts – and orders were issued to repatriate Sarah’s siblings to the UK.

Read Father pleads not guilty to British-Pakistani girl’s murder

Subsequently, the Surrey County Council wrote an application to the Lahore High Court seeking to secure the children’s return to the UK.

The BBC added that the court processes in Pakistan and London were ongoing, and at the moment the children remained in Pakistan. It also stated that there was a restriction on reporting the case due to the ongoing legal process but it was later lifted.

Earlier, Sarah’s siblings were placed in the custody of the Child Protection Bureau. However, their grandfather Muhammad Sharif who lives in Jhelum began fighting through courts to gain the custody of the children

On Oct 19, the LHC gave the children’s interim custody to him. The case has been heard several times since then and for now, the children remain with Muhammad Sharif.