THE cause of death of ten-year-old Sara Sharif has not yet been established but was likely to be “unnatural”, an inquest at Surrey Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday.

Her body was found alone at her home in Hammond Road, Horsell, on August 10, a day after her relatives fled to Pakistan, sparking an international manhunt.

Sara’s father, Urfan Sharif, 41, his partner, Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother, Faisal Malik, 28, are wanted for questioning by police.

Police in the UK said Mr Sharif made a 999 call from Pakistan, leading to them finding Sara’s body, shortly after landing in Islamabad.

The three, and five children, left the UK on one-way tickets.

A statement from the coroner’s office read: “The inquest touching the death of Sara Sharif was listed for opening this morning [Tuesday] at HM Coroner’s Court, Woking.

“HM area coroner for Surrey, Simon Wickens, noted that, although the cause of death remains unascertained, expert opinion was that it is likely to be an unnatural cause of death and, as such, an inquest would be required.

“Having opened the inquest, the coroner suspended the inquest for a period of six months on the application of Surrey Police to allow further enquiries to be made by them.”

The BBC reported Mr Wickens confirmed Sara was born in Slough in January, 2013. 

It also reported that Pakistan police said they were widening the search for Sara’s family.

Detectives told the BBC they had expanded the search to two more areas around the city of Jhelum, having received new information from multiple sources.

Surrey Police and Sussex Police’s Major Crime Team, who are leading the investigation, said in a statement: “Our enquiries remain ongoing to locate them and we are continuing to work with international agencies, including Interpol, the National Crime Agency and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to progress our enquiries with the Pakistani authorities.”

Police have reiterated their appeal to the public for information, prominently featured in last week’s News & Mail, as they try to piece together Sara’s lifestyle.

Detective Superintendent Mark Chapman said: “We would like to thank those people who have already come forward and reported information to us.

“However, we know there will be lots of people in the Woking community and beyond who will have had contact with Sara who may not already have come forward, and we would encourage them to do so.

“Any information is better than no information – although you might think it’s insignificant, it might be vital to the investigation and in helping us to bring justice for Sara.”

Anyone who has information which could assist the police investigation is urged to use https://mipp.police.uk/operation/4523K72-PO2

Information can also be reported by quoting Operation Unison via https://www.surrey.police.uk

Anyone who would like to leave information confidentially, and does not want to talk to the police, can call independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.