Woking ‘murder’: Cops give update on Sara Sharif, 10, and say they need more tests to confirm her cause of death

COPS say further tests are needed to establish the cause of death of a 10-year-old girl in Woking.

A post-mortem examination performed on Tuesday concluded that the cause was “still to be established”.

Formal identification of the child has yet to take place but she has been named in reports as Sara Sharif.

Surrey Police Detective Superintendent Mark Chapman today called the investigation “traumatic” and has confirmed the police officers involved are being supported by the force.

Sara’s body was found after police were rushed to an address belonging to her dad Urfan Sharif, on Hammond Road around 2.50am on Thursday, August 10, 2023.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police quickly taped off the area, with officers seen heading in and out of the house with evidence bags in hand.

The following day, it emerged three people police wanted to speak to had skipped the country in the hours before the youngster’s body was found.

It comes as a local travel agent said on Tuesday he was contacted by someone known to Sara, wanting group tickets to capital Islamabad, the .

The booking cost over £5,000 and was booked on August 9, hours before the girl’s body was found alone in Horsell, near Woking, by cops.

UK authorities now face an uphill battle to get the group – all known to Sara – back to Britain.

This is because the UK does not have a formal extradition treaty with Pakistan, making it difficult to get the runaways back for questioning.

It comes after Sara’s mum Olga Sharif told The Sun how her ex-husband, 41, had been given sole custody of Sara and her 13-year-old brother by a court in 2019.

She says Sara’s behaviour then began to change after taxi driver Urfan’s influence over her life increased.

Olga, from a Catholic background, told The Sun: “They would not eat certain things because they are not halal.

“Urfan said to me that the kids will be Muslim, but I said no, they will learn both religions, not only yours, because they are living in my house.

“I didn’t want to push the kids. I told them if they want to be Muslim they can be Muslim, but they can choose later in life.”

Olga said she wed cabbie Urfan at a Surrey register office in November 2009, before the marriage ended in 2017.

Aside from occasional phone conversations, the mum said she was only allowed to see her children twice in the four years since she lost custody.

A post-mortem examination on Sara was due to be carried out on Tuesday but a cause of death has not been formally confirmed.