Sara Sharif: 'Madness' to allow home schooling when abuse suspected

According to the Children’s Commissioner for England, parents should be prohibited from homeschooling a child if there are concerns that the child may be experiencing abuse.

Dame Rachel de Souza shared with the BBC that it's "crazy" that the current law permits parents to withdraw a child from school, even when there are existing concerns.

This comes after the passing of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, who was taken out of school after her father and stepmother found out that her teachers had contacted social services.

On Wednesday, Urfan Sharif, 43, and Beinash Batool, 30, were found guilty of murdering Sara following a trial that revealed they had put her through two years of terrible mistreatment.

Sara's body was discovered at her family's residence in Woking, Surrey, during the early morning hours of August 10th last year. She had suffered numerous injuries, including burns and what appeared to be bite marks from a human.

She was murdered two days earlier, leading Sharif and the rest of the family to escape to Pakistan.

About an hour after he arrived, Sharif contacted the police in England and informed the operator that he had murdered Sara.

In the months leading up to Sara's passing, educators at her school expressed worries to the social services of Surrey County Council about the bruises they noticed on her body.

An inquiry was launched but was quickly shut down just six days later. Once Sharif and Batool learned about the referral, they decided to withdraw Sara from school completely.

In an interview with BBC Newsnight, Dame Rachel stated that it was unacceptable for them to have had that opportunity.

"If it is believed that a child may have experienced abuse, they are not allowed to receive homeschooling," she stated.

Being in school provides protection. Students are more secure when they are supervised by their teachers.

"We can't allow a vulnerable child to stay at home and receive education there. It just doesn't make sense."

The government is in the process of developing a Children's Wellbeing Bill, which they claim will implement "modifications to guarantee that children are secure, healthy, joyful, and treated justly."

Dame Rachel proposed that the legislation should create a registry for all children who are homeschooled, as there is no such system in place right now.

She emphasized the need for improved sharing of information between healthcare and education services, as well as across various regions of the country, to ensure that at-risk children can be recognized.

She also urged for the removal of a legal exception in assault laws that permits the "reasonable punishment" of children.

Surrey County Council has announced that, following the end of the trial, an independent review will be conducted to assess the safeguarding aspects of the case.

Rachael Wardell, the Executive Director for Children, stated, "We are firmly dedicated to safeguarding children and are committed to actively participating in the upcoming review with our partner organizations. Our goal is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the broader factors related to the unfortunate passing of Sara."