SARA Sharif’s stepmum said the schoolgirl’s dad has “beat the c*** out of her” and described how she “can’t walk” in texts, a court heard.
Sara, 10, is said to have suffered a “campaign of abuse” before she was found dead at her home in Woking, Surrey, in August last year.
The schoolgirl was found under a blanket in an upstairs bedroom having suffered “dozens of injuries”, a court heard.
Her dad Urfan, 42, stepmum Beinash Batool, 30, and uncle Faisal Malik, 28, are standing trial at the Old Bailey charged with murder.
William Emlyn Jones KC, prosecuting, today told a jury Batool had sent a series of text messages to her sister detailing the abuse.
In May 2021, Batool texted her sisters to claim Sara’s dad Urfan was “angry” and that the little girl “can’t walk” after being “beaten black”.
The messages read: “Urfan beat the crap out of Sara”, “she’s covered in bruises, literally beaten black, “I feel really sorry for Sara”, “poor girl can’t walk”.
She also said “I really want to report him”, but she never did.
The following summer, Batool wrote to her sister: “He beat Sara up yesterday and I can’t send her to school looking like that.”
But she was more concerned with covering up what was happening, jurors have been told.
The messages relate to a time before Faisal Malik moved in to live with the family at a flat in West Byfleet, Surrey, in December 2022.
Neighbours told the Old Bailey they could hear banging and rattling as soon as the family moved in to the property.
But prosecutors say similar messages from Batool to her sister continued through the period.
Neighbour Rebecca Spencer said it was as if someone was “trying to open the door or alert someone that they were behind a door that would not open”.
She added: “The rattling sounded metallic, possibly a loose door lock or catch mechanism.
“On the occasions that I would hear these banging and rattling sounds, they would be accompanied by the sounds of a child crying or a screaming, followed by complete silence.
“On those occasions I can only describe the silence as ‘deathly quiet’ and I cannot imagine what happened to make the crying or screaming child become immediately silent.”
When Ms Spencer moved out, new neighbour Ms Redwin said she heard smacking followed by “gut-wrenching screams” of young female children, over which Batool would shout “shut up”.
Jurors were also told that Sara began wearing a hijab in January 2023, just before they moved into their new property in Woking three months later.
Mr Emlyn Jones said: “The prosecution suggest the fact that Sara began to wear the hijab around this time is indicative of the need to conceal injuries to her face and hear from the outside world.”
The court has also today heard how Sara had plastic bags taped over her head.
During a search of the house in Woking, police found a black rope with Sara’s hair on that appeared to have been pulled out of a head in a brick shed in the garden.
They also found, wrapped in towels in a wheelie bin, a pair of leggings with a filthy nappy inside containing Sara’s urine and faeces.
Jurors have been told Sara may have been wearing the leggings and filthy nappy found in the bin when she died.
The three defendants are charged with murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between December 16, 2022, and August 9, 2023.
They each deny both offences. The trial, expected to last two months, continues.
