Children staying with Sara Sharif’s family in Pakistan ‘moved to care facility’

Five children staying with the family of 10-year-old Sara Sharif in Pakistan have been moved to a childcare facility, according to reports.

The BBC said the decision was made to temporarily send the children to a government facility in a court ruling on Tuesday.

It is unclear where the children will ultimately be sent or for how long they may be kept in the facility.

The children were taken from the home of Sara’s grandfather Muhammad in a police raid at his property in Jhelum, Pakistan, on Monday, before later being returned.

Witness accounts from the scene said officers broke CCTV cameras at the property, stopped traffic and prevented passers-by from filming the incident.

Sara was found dead at her home in Woking after officers were called from Pakistan by her father, Urfan Sharif, at about 2.50am on August 10, Surrey Police have previously said.

A post-mortem examination found she had suffered “multiple and extensive injuries” over a “sustained and extended” period of time.

Mr Sharif’s partner, Beinash Batool, 29, has also left the UK for Pakistan.

The pair left Britain with five children aged between one and 13, and Surrey Police want to question them over Sara’s death.

The children were carried by family members into court for around 40 minutes on Tuesday before being moved to another court as authorities tried to decide on their next steps, the BBC reported.

Muhammad Sharif told the BBC he had been hiding the children in his home, but did not specify for how long.

Last week, Sara’s stepmother Ms Batool spoke publicly for the first time since the girl was found dead.

In a clip of the footage posted online by Sky, Ms Batool described Sara’s death as “an incident” and said she and Mr Sharif are willing to co-operate with UK authorities over the case.

Surrey County Council has been contacted for comment.