Sara Sharif murder inquiry: Girl known to authorities, council says

A 10-year-old girl who was found dead in Surrey was known to the authorities, the county council has confirmed.

Sara Sharif's body was found at her family home in Woking early on 10 August, prompting a murder inquiry.

Surrey Police confirmed they wanted to speak to Sara's father Urfan Sharif, and his partner and brother who flew to Pakistan the day before she was found.

Surrey County Council said it would "work tirelessly" to gain a "full understanding" of the situation.

Council leader Tim Oliver said previously the National Child Safeguarding Panel had been notified and a multi-agency review was under way.

"This Rapid Review will determine whether a Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review is to be undertaken by the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership," Mr Oliver said.

He explained: "A Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review is a statutory process, bringing together partners including the police, health, social care and education to review practice of all agencies involved, organisational structures and learning."

BBC News has been told two police teams in Jhelum, north Punjab in Pakistan, are looking for Mr Sharif.

District police officer Nasir Mehmood Bajwa, in Jhelum, told the BBC that after police find Mr Sharif they are likely to take him into custody after receiving the go-ahead from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Islamabad.

Pakistan's foreign ministry and the FIA have not confirmed or shared any verbal or written orders on this case.

Mr Sharif, his partner Beinash Batool and his brother Faisal Malik all left the UK for Pakistan on 9 August, a day before Sara's body was discovered.

Surrey Police have said Mr Sharif, 41, made a 999 call from Pakistan shortly after landing in Islamabad with his partner, his brother and five children, aged between one and 13.

The call led officers to the house in Woking where they found the body of Sara who had sustained "multiple and extensive injuries", likely to have been caused over a sustained period of time.

There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan.

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