Sara Sharif’s grandfather said he will fight to keep her siblings in Pakistan, calling it the “safest place for them”, as a vigil was held for the murdered 10-year-old in Surrey.
Muhammad Sharif said he would appeal to the high court in Pakistan to stop Sara’s five siblings from being returned to the UK.
It comes as Will Forster, Liberal Democrat MP for Woking, where Sara lived, said hundreds of people attended a “very moving” vigil in her memory on Sunday evening.
The event, called Remembering an Angel Sara Sharif, was held outside her house, on Hammond Road, with attenders encouraged to light a candle or lay a rose.
Forster wrote on X: “So many are heartbroken by her loss.”
Sara’s siblings, whose identities are protected by a court order, remain in the city of Jhelum in north-eastern Pakistan, with efforts to return them to the UK continuing.
They were taken by Urfan Sharif, Sara’s stepmother Beinash Batool and her uncle Faisal Malik on 9 August last year, a day before Sara’s body was discovered at the family home in Woking.
On arrival, they were left with their paternal grandfather but were taken into state care after being discovered by Pakistani police during efforts to locate Sharif, Batool and Malik.
The children are now back in the care of their grandfather.
Muhammad Sharif told The Sunday Times: “The legal proceedings concerning the custody of the children are ongoing in the Lahore high court.
“They are enrolled in a reputable school, and we ensure their safety by personally transporting them to and from school.
“I am their guardian and this is the safest place for them to live in; they have an association with me and they are not willing to leave me. We will win the case.”
The 69-year-old’s son, Urfan, and Batool were convicted of Sara’s murder at the Old Bailey on Wednesday. Malik was found guilty of causing or allowing her death.
Last September, her five siblings were made wards of court by Mr Justice Hayden, meaning they needed to be returned to the country because they cannot be removed from the country without approval.
Surrey county council has applied to the high court in Lahore to begin efforts to bring the children back to the UK.
It remains unclear whether a court in Pakistan would authorise their return.
The Sunday Times reported that the high court in Lahore last week adjourned the latest hearing in the custody case until mid-January while the children remain in the care of their grandfather.
A Surrey county council spokesperson said: “We are continuing to work our way through this highly complex situation, sensitively and carefully, working closely with all of the agencies concerned.
“Our overriding priority remains the wellbeing of the children and we request that their privacy is respected.”
Sharif, 43, Batool, 30, and Malik, 29, will be sentenced on Tuesday.
