The police have taken five children into custody who were travelling from the UK, with Sara Sharif’s dad to Pakistan.
The children were found in the house of Muhammad Sharif, Sara’s grandpa. A raid led to the decision that they would be placed at a state-run childcare center.
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Yesterday, cops raided the house as they continued to hunt Urfan Sharif and his partner, Beinash Batool.
The pair fled the UK the day before schoolgirl Sara, 10, was found dead at her home in Woking, Surrey, on August 10.
Urfan and Batool left Britain with five children aged between one and 13, and Surrey Police want to question them over Sara’s tragic death.
Sara was found to have suffered “multiple and severe injuries” in post-mortem examinations.
Children aged one to 13 years old will be placed under the protection of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau.
The children, who were accompanied by armed officers and the local media for about 40 minutes, were brought into court today by their family members.
BBC News reports that they were shuffled from one court to another as the authorities tried to decide what to do with them.
After that, the children were ushered swiftly into a police vehicle and then taken to another court.
BBC reports that the judge here ruled the children should be temporarily sent to an official government child care facility in Pakistan.
The judge has not stated how long children can be held in government facilities.
Cops have raided at least 20 homes in Pakistan as the search ramps up for Urfan, Batool and Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik.
Muhammad was one of ten relatives who were previously detained for questioning.
A video emerged last week of Sharif and Batool reading a statement together about the horror.
Batool said her family “are willing to cooperate with the UK authorities and fight our case in court” – but moaned about the conditions they are living under.
Batool said that her family has also gone into hiding because “everyone fears for their safety”.
She stated: “The children are afraid to go out of the house. They can’t attend school.” Nobody is going outside.
The adults have been unable to leave the house for fear of safety, so there’s no food left for the children.
The first time they have been seen since their disappearance in Pakistan.
Sara’s body was discovered after Sharif called 999 from Pakistan.
An inquest opened into Sara’s death last week heard how medics are still unable to establish a cause of death.
The death of the child was likely “unnatural” according to Woking Coroner’s Court.
A previous post-mortem revealed she suffered “multiple and extensive injuries which are likely to have been caused over a sustained and extended period of time”.
It is understood the dad fled capital Islamabad with Beinash and Faisal on August 9 – the day before Sara was found dead.
Pakistan police previously said they found evidence the dad briefly returned to his family home in Jhelum.
But there is no extradition treaty between Pakistan and the UK, which would make it difficult to bring the suspects back for questioning.
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