Five kids who went to Pakistan with Sara Sharif’s dad are back with her grandpa after the police took them.
Neighbors say many police officers came to the grandfather’s house, where the children were staying, on Monday.
A court meeting to decide who takes care of the children is set for Tuesday.
Ten-year-old Sara was found dead at her family home in Woking, Surrey, on 10 August – a day after her father and his partner left the UK.
Tests after death found that Sara had many severe injuries.
Sara’s dad Urfan Sharif and stepmom Beinash Batool, went away from the UK with five kids aged between one and 13.
Sara’s grandpa, Muhammad Sharif, told the BBC earlier that the children had been at his home in Jhelum since they came on August 10.
“I didn’t let them go since they came from the UK,” Mr. Sharif told the BBC.
“I told Urfan and Beinash they could go wherever, but I won’t let the children go with you. Until today, no one asked me about the children.
“They kept asking about Urfan, Faisal, and Beinash, but no one asked about the children.”
He later said, “If someone asked about the children, I’d say they’re safe with me. It’s my right, no one cares for them more than me.”
He said his son and partner hadn’t called him, maybe because “if the police knew, they’d be harsh on me.”
Later, the police said the children were back with Muhammad Sharif. He told the police he’d go to court, but it’s not clear if the children need to go.
Mr. Sharif had earlier said he hadn’t talked to his son or knew where they were.
The BBC also talked to Urfan Sharif’s sisters, who said the children were very sad when they were taken from Sara’s grandpa’s home.
“The kids were crying, the police were taking them,” Farzana Malik said.
“They cried a lot, saying, ‘we don’t want to go, we don’t want to go.'”
People who saw it said the police came to the house just before 16:30 local time (12:30 BST). They stopped traffic and didn’t let anyone film on their phones, neighbors said.
Mr. Sharif said the police broke CCTV cameras and the house gates.
Police said they took the children, but Sara’s dad, Urfan Sharif, stepmom, Beinash Batool, and uncle, Faisal Malik, weren’t there. The police said the kids didn’t fight leaving.
Surrey Police said in a statement: “This is significant, and we’ve been working with Surrey County Council and our international partners, like Interpol, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the National Crime Agency, to figure out what’s next.”
They also said “the wellbeing of these five kids is still a priority for us.”
Last Friday, Muhammad Sharif told the BBC he messaged his son, saying he should turn himself in to the police.
Muhammad Sharif and his family said the police were bothering them, holding some family members unfairly, and coming to their homes. He also said the police made up cases against them to make it harder.
The police said this wasn’t true.
Last week, in a video, Sara’s stepmom talked publicly for the first time since the girl was found dead. Sara’s dad was also in the video but didn’t talk. Ms. Batool read from a notebook.
Ms. Batool said Sara’s death was “an incident,” and she and Urfan Sharif were willing to help UK authorities.
She said they’re hiding because they’re scared the Pakistani police will hurt them. The Jhelum police chief told the BBC that the accusations of bothering and hurting family members are wrong.
Sara’s body was found after her dad called for help from Pakistan, right after landing in Islamabad.
SOURCE:BBC