A social worker’s report overlooked risks posed by Sara Sharif’s father, raising concerns about the assessment process in her tragic case
Woking: So, there’s this heartbreaking story about Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl who suffered terribly. An inexperienced social worker was supposed to assess her family but missed some serious red flags about her dad, Urfan Sharif.
The report, which was called “very thorough,” didn’t even mention the risks he posed, even though there were a bunch of concerns noted. It’s shocking, right? This was all part of a court hearing back in 2019, where a judge decided Sara should live with her dad and stepmom, Beinash Batool.
Fast forward to last week, and both Urfan and Beinash were found guilty of murdering Sara. It’s just so tragic. The social worker had only been on the job for nine months when they got this complex case. You have to wonder why they didn’t assign someone with more experience to handle it.
Before Sara moved in with her dad, she had been living with her mom, Olga Domin. The social worker’s report mentioned that Sara had claimed she was being abused by her mom, which is why the kids were moved. But the judge didn’t seem to take the past allegations against Urfan seriously enough.
During the hearing, the judge praised the social worker’s report, but it didn’t really dig into the potential dangers Urfan posed. There were multiple allegations against him over the years, including domestic violence, but the report just brushed them aside.
It’s wild that the report didn’t even reference a letter from Cafcass, which had raised concerns about Urfan. They had a history of serious allegations against him, but nothing ever came of it. It’s like the system failed Sara in so many ways.
In the end, the social worker concluded that Urfan was a good dad and that the kids felt safe with him. But we know now that was far from the truth. Sara suffered unimaginable abuse, and it’s just heartbreaking to think about what she went through.
Now, Surrey County Council is under scrutiny, and they’re not commenting while an independent review is happening. It’s a tough situation, and it really makes you think about how these assessments are done and who’s making these critical decisions.