Stepmother claimed Sara Sharif wore hijab to ‘follow her religion’

The stepmother of Sara Sharif claimed to a neighbour the 10-year-old started wearing a hijab because she wanted to “follow her religion”, a court has heard.

Beinash Batool, 30, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of murdering Sara alongside father Urfan Sharif, 42, and uncle, Faisal Malik, 29.

Sara was found dead in a bunkbed at her home in Woking, Surrey on August 10 last year, after Sharif alerted police from Pakistan saying he had “beat her up too much”, jurors have heard.

The prosecution allege that Sara started wearing a hijab around January last year to cover up injuries to her face and head during a campaign of abuse by the defendants culminating in her death.

On Wednesday, former neighbour Chloe Redwin described conversations with Batool and Sharif when she first noticed Sara wearing a hijab.

She told jurors: “I saw her wear a hijab in January 2023.

“I had a conversation with the mother and father of the household. It wasn’t a really deep conversation.

“I made a comment to the mother, ‘oh doesn’t she look nice in her headscarf, when did she start wearing one?’

“The conversation was shut down. She said ‘she decided to wear one, she wants to follow her religion’.”

Ms Redwin said Sharif told her that his daughter was “learning about the Muslim faith” and that she was “very interested in this and that she wanted to explore and learn more”.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said: “You never spoke to Sara about that did you?”

The witness, who gave evidence by video link, confirmed that she did not.

Cross-examining, Sharif’s barrister Naeem Mian KC asked about the couple’s demeanour when they discussed Sara’s hijab.

Ms Redwin said: “The way the mother spoke to me was very abrupt, almost as if she wanted the conversation to end.”

Mr Mian asked: “When you spoke about that to Mr Sharif, the father was far more relaxed, he said she was showing interest in her religion?”

The witness agreed: “Yes, it was a far more relaxed conversation.”

Caroline Carberry KC, for Batool, suggested that the witness only spoke to Sharif about it.

Ms Redwin insisted she had been with her mother when the conversation with Batool took place outside the front door to the property.

The witness had lived upstairs from the Sharif family in West Byfleet between November 2020 until April 2023 when they moved to Woking.

She told jurors there was noise coming from downstairs from the first night she moved in, including a smacking and “gut-wrenching scream”.

She said: “It was a person smacking another person. A smack followed by a scream and then being told ‘go to your room’.”

Ms Redwin said: “Some nights were louder than other nights. Even during the day you would hear noise. The only time it was quiet was when they were away on holiday.”

The witness said an adult female would often say ‘shut the f*** up”, “shut the f*** up you bastard” and “shut the f*** up you c***s.”

Jurors were told the woman would make those remarks in response to a “distressed scream” that sounded like it came from a child aged seven or eight.

On how the woman sounded, Ms Redwin said: “The tone was very loud. In my opinion it was very aggressive. It was almost forceful, she had a determination behind what she was saying.”

There were other instructions to the child, she said: “I heard shouting ‘go to your room’. Mostly the word bastard would follow.”

Mr Emlyn Jones asked: “Did you ever hear the adult male voice in this way or at all?”

Ms Redwin replied: “No.”

Ms Carberry asserted the “raised voices” came from both a man and a woman and it was Sharif who said the word “c***”.

The witness replied: “I know the way that person speaks and it was Beinash Batool that said these words.”

Rebecca Spencer lived in the same flat in West Byfleet, Surrey, between 2018 and 2020 and described sounds of crying, shouting, screaming and doors slamming and rattling coming from the Sharif residence.

She told jurors: “I would hear the stepmother shout at Sara because she shouted her name.

“I could tell that she (Batool) had lost her temper, there could have been a bang that could have been a smack, I don’t know.”

Ms Spencer told jurors the “general constant screaming and crying” once prompted her to take action.

“On one occasion it was fever pitch so I went downstairs and said ‘is everything ok in here’?”

Batool replied “yes” before slamming the door in her face, the witness said.

When pressed about what kind of swear words Batool used when speaking to children, the witness said “f***ing bastards”.

The court heard Ms Spencer, who worked from home, had thought about making a formal report about the family downstairs but ultimately decided against it.

The prosecution has alleged that Sara had died last August 8 and within hours the defendants had booked a flight out of the country.

A post-mortem examination found Sara had suffered dozens of injuries including “probable human bite marks”, an iron burn and scalding from hot water.

Jurors have heard that Batool and Sharif have blamed each other for Sara’s death.

All three defendants, formerly of Hammond Road in Woking, have denied murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between December 16 2022 and August 9 2023.