\u2018Evil wife made me slap daughter\u2019
\n LONDON
\nThe father of a 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl on Thursday denied her murder and instead blamed the girl\u2019s stepmother, calling her \u201cevil\u201d and \u201cpsycho\u201d.
\nGiving evidence for a third day, Sharif admitted slapping Sara \u201cmultiple times\u201d but denied beating, burning, or biting her, insisting that he was \u201cnever at home\u201d when she was injured.
\nSharif broke down when his lawyer, Naeem Mian, questioned him about beating Sara, who was home schooled, with a cricket bat.
\nThe taxi driver denied burning his daughter with an iron and instead said he was \u201cmade to\u201d slap Sara by Batool, who constantly accused the girl of behaving badly.
\nPointing to Batool sitting in the dock, Sharif shouted: \u201cI should not have believed her… I didn\u2019t realise I\u2019m living with evil and a psycho\u201d. He also suggested that Batool was the one who bit her \u201clike an animal\u201d.
\nThe jury was previously told that Sharif and Malik had provided their dental impressions but Batool had refused. \u201cI didn\u2019t do it. Faisal didn\u2019t do it. Who else was at home?\u201d Sharif said.
\nHe denied ever being aware of Sara being in pain. \u201cShe never told me that,\u201d he said and indicated that he did not see injuries because Sara wore full-sleeve tops and long bottoms as well as a hijab head covering.
\nIn the month leading up to Sara\u2019s death, Mian said Sharif was out of the house at work from early in the morning to late at night while holing frequent telephone conversations with Batool, who would largely be at home.
\nSharif wept as he recalled a time he came home and saw that Sara\u2019s hands had been tied behind her back with brown packaging tape, accusing Batool of the act.
\nAsked why he did not call the police or ask Batool to leave, Sharif said that his wife was \u201cmanipulative\u201d and that he believed her apology. \u201cI have been an idiot,\u201d he added.
\nForensic evidence shown to court included bundles of packaging tape and a white plastic carrier bag fashioned into a hood that could have been used on Sara\u2019s head.
\nThe bag had packaging tape stuck to it as well as long, brown hairs that matched Sara\u2019s DNA, the court was told.
\nBoth the bag and the non-sticky side of the tape had fingerprints that matched Sharif\u2019s, who denied fashioning a hood out of the plastic bag or using it on Sara.
\nHe said the fingerprints could be a result of him handling the items while sorting the garbage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018Evil wife made me slap daughter\u2019 LONDON The father of a 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl on Thursday denied her murder and instead blamed the girl\u2019s stepmother, calling her \u201cevil\u201d and \u201cpsycho\u201d. Giving evidence for a third day, Sharif admitted slapping Sara \u201cmultiple times\u201d but denied beating, burning, or biting her, insisting that he was \u201cnever at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442502,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-442471","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n