Sara Sharif’s Neighbours Feared Being Called Racist If They Reported Abuse
13th November 2025
Sara Sharif’s neighbours did not report concerns that she was being abused to police because they were scared of being called racist, a safeguarding review has found.The 10-year-old schoolgirl was discovered dead at her home in Woking, Surrey, on Aug 10 2023, after being beaten, burned, hooded and strangled.
Urfan Sharif, Sara’s father, 43, and Beinash Batool, her stepmother, 31, were sentenced to life in prison last year for her murder after subjecting her to years of “inconceivable cruelty”.
Local authorities commissioned a safeguarding practice review after the convictions.
It found wide-ranging failings by a number of authorities and said neighbours of the family were scared to report “concerns about what they heard” in the Sharif household.
“They feared being branded as being racist, especially on social media,” the authors of the report wrote.
“While understanding their point of view, this is concerning that race was a bar to reporting possible child abuse and it needs to be overcome.”