Catapult is the report that came to light about chronic abuse, merciless torture and murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif by her own father in Britain. The report finds a series of serious omissions by the authorities and social services that if they had done their job correctly the girl could have been saved and would be alive today.
10-year-old Sarah was found dead at his home in Britain in August 2023 after being beaten to death by her father. Her father and stepmother were sentenced to life in prison for her murder.
The tragedy of 10-year-old Sarah Sharif, reveals serious weaknesses of the juvenile protection system.
Serious omissions by the authorities allowed her father to kill her
A recent report highlights, according to the Dailymail, a series of serious failings by the authorities, who did not spot bruises under her hijab for fear of offending anyone, while her father had a history of violence 16 against women and children.
According to the same report, the risk posed by the persistently violent father had been “overlooked, under-addressed and underestimated by almost all professionals”. Sarah suffered over 100 injuries: her father tied her with tape, put a plastic bag over her head and beat her with a cricket bat, a metal pole and a mobile phone, while burning her with an iron and boiling water.
A judge described these acts as the worst crime he had ever encountered.
After her death in August 2023, the 43-year-old father fled to Pakistan with his accomplice, his wife Baynas Batul, 30, before confessing to the crime, thinking he had gotten away. However, he was arrested and extradited to stand trial at the Old Bailey, where the pair were jailed for life in December.
The report on the protection of minors points out that there were many opportunities to save Sarah.
“Different measures could and should have been taken and the system failed to keep her safe,” he says. Among the mistakes was that it was not investigated why the student was suddenly wearing a hijab.”
The report also notes that experts did not “put the evidence together” as evidence of Sharif’s “extensive” domestic violence was “lost in the system”.
Social workers failed to carry out basic checks, safeguarding procedures were not followed and home visits were delayed with fatal results. There was also confusion over the homeschooling policy, while fear of breaching data protection laws led to evidence of abuse not being made public.
Despite serious incidents of assaults on women and children, even infants, the father managed to deceive the police, teachers, social services and judges, who decided to grant him custody of Sarah, based on the professionals’ recommendation of a “safe and loving home”.
However, the report concludes that no one should be fired as Sarah’s death was not due to “a specific fault of the safeguarding system”, but “responsibility for these crimes lies solely with the perpetrators.”