Sara Sharif: International manhunt over murder of girl, 10on August 15, 2023 at 3:25 pm

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Police are trying to locate three people who left the UK a day before Sara’s body was found.

Sara Sharif

An international manhunt for three people continues following the murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif.

The girl’s body was found alone in the early hours of last Thursday morning at her home in Woking, Surrey.

Surrey Police said the three people it was trying to locate – who were known to Sara – left the UK the previous day.

Sara’s mother Olga Sharif said her life “will never be the same again” as she spoke of her loss in an interview with The Sun.

Formal identification has yet to take place, and investigators are still at the property where Sara’s body was found in Hammond Road.

Detectives are working with international authorities to find those they want to speak to in connection with her death.

No arrests have been made and a post-mortem examination will take place on Tuesday.

Ms Sharif described her daughter as an “amazing girl”, and told The Sun she was “too young”.

“There is nothing I can do that can bring her back to life, so I have to only remember the good times with her now,” she added.

Public lay flowers at scene

Image source, PA Media

The local imam said the community had been shocked by her death.

Hafiz Hashmi, Imam of the Shah Jahan Mosque, said he had not been able to sleep in recent days.

He told BBC Radio Surrey: “We are immensely shocked and saddened. Can’t believe something like this can happen to such an innocent child.

“We don’t know the circumstances around the death so we pray for the girl’s soul to be at peace. We pray that we are able to find the truth surrounding her death so that loved ones can lay the girl to rest.

“People are shocked.”

In a statement, the mosque said it was “deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Sara whose innocent life was taken last week”.

The statement added: “Our thoughts, prayers and condolences are with her and her loved ones during this difficult and testing time.”

Crime scene taped off

Image source, PA Media

A local church, St Mary the Virgin, in Horsell, has been open since last Friday for members of the community to attend for “prayer, reflection or comfort”, while floral tributes have been left outside the house.

Last week, there was a heavy police presence at the semi-detached property on Hammond Road and neighbours told reporters a Pakistani family with six “very young” children had moved into the house in April.

Speaking after the discovery of Sara’s body, a neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said she “appeared to help look after her younger brothers and sisters, and especially the baby”.

They “seemed a happy family who cared for all their children”, they said.

Sara’s body was found at the empty house at about 02:50 BST on 10 August.

Anna Bradshaw, an extradition law specialist at the London firm Peters and Peters, said any future legal proceedings involving foreign courts were likely to be protracted.

“That’s an opportunity for the person to contest their extradition” she said.

“Some countries do not extradite their own nationals. Most countries will insist on the prima facie case to be met, and almost all countries will have some variation of a human rights test.”

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