Sara Sharif was innocent soul, murder accused said

Sara Sharif's body was found in August last year

A woman accused of killing 10-year-old Sara Sharif had told her sister the girl was an "innocent soul" who needed love, a court heard.

Sara's stepmother, Beinash Batool, also said Sara's father, Urfan Sharif, had beaten up his daughter as she had been “naughty”, jurors at the Old Bailey were told.

She sent the Whatsapp messages in 2022 - months before Sara’s body was found with dozens of injuries at her family home in Woking on 10 August last year.

Ms Batool, 30, Mr Sharif, 42, and Sara's uncle Faisal Malik, 29, have denied murder.

Jurors previously heard Sara had been hooded, burned, bitten and beaten during more than two years of abuse.

They were also previously told by the prosecution that the accuracy of messages sent by Ms Batool to her sisters over a number of years was in dispute, as they only reflected what she was choosing to tell them.

Ms Batool sent images of Sara’s injuries to her sister Qandeela Saboohi, but then deleted them from the message stream, the court heard.

Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik are each facing two charges relating to the death of Sara Sharif

The recovered images showed multiple injuries to Sara.

In May 2021 Ms Batool told her sister that she wanted to report Urfan for beating “the crap out of Sara”.

Ms Batool said: “She’s covered in bruises, literally … black”, adding “poor girl can’t walk, she literally fainted in the kitchen in the morning” and “he made her do sit ups all night”.

In one exchange in February 2022, Ms Batool messaged another sister, Amima Shahid, to say that Mr Sharif was beating Sara up at home.

Ms Batool went on to say that “[if] something happens to Sara I will not be able to forgive myself".

Sara Sharif's family pictured at Heathrow Airport as they leave for Pakistan

On 24 November, 2022, Ms Batool messaged Ms Shahid saying that she was “too stressed to talk” and that she and Mr Sharif had separated.

Ms Batool said Mr Sharif was going to Pakistan the following day, adding: “He went crazy today”, and that he had taken money and a passport.

Six months before Sara died, Ms Shahid messaged Ms Batool to ask how Sara was.

“I feel so sorry for her," the aunt said.

Ms Batool replied: "She’s fine, I explained to her like I do every night."

She added in other messages: "There’s something that’s not right with her like mentally; She needs to get help; She’s an innocent soul man who needs love."

On 11 August, the day after Sara’s body was found, Sara’s aunt blocked Ms Batool's number.

The court was also shown footage of the three accused relatives at Heathrow airport as they left the UK for Pakistan, the day before Sara's body was found.

The trial continues.