EXCLUSIVEI dated the devil who murdered Sara Sharif. He jealously watched my every move and hunted me to Poland after blaming me for a miscarriage. That could have been my child...
When the news broke that Urfan Sharif was on the run after murdering his own daughter, hundreds of miles away in Poland his ex-girlfriend was frozen in shock.
When the news broke that Urfan Sharif was on the run after murdering his own daughter, hundreds of miles away in Poland his ex-girlfriend was frozen in shock.
All I was thinking is that could have been me, that could have been my child, Angelika said. It was a big shock – but also, I knew he was capable of it.
Having suffered at Sharifs hands after she came to the UK as a teenager, the 35-year-old mother is still too scared of the child killer to be fully identified.
Such was his obsession that Sharif came to Poland looking for her – and met another woman, Olga Domin, with whom he went on to have Sara.
In an interview from her home in western Poland, Angelika today tells for the first time how she had to flee out of a window after he held her captive in his home.
The future murderer also jealously made friends watch her every move. He hit her, took her passport, threatened to kill her and even tried to burn her initials onto his own skin.
When she lost his baby he flew into a rage, cruelly blaming her for the miscarriage, which saw her finally cut him out of her life.
But while the loss of her unborn child was the darkest day of Angelikas life, today she reflects on what fate could have awaited her and the baby had it survived.
When the news broke that Urfan Sharif was on the run after murdering his own daughter, hundreds of miles away in Poland his ex-girlfriend Angelika (pictured) was frozen in shock
Sara Sharif, 10, died after her father Urfan Sharif won custody and launched a campaign of sadistic abuse on her with his wife Beinash Batool
Urfan Sharif, 42, was emotionless as he was found guilty of murdering his daughter
Beinash Batool, 30, wept as she was found guilty of murdering Sara Sharif
Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool pictured together
That was the worst thing that ever happened to me, she says. But now, in some dark way, I feel lucky that this did not happen to my child.
Angelika first met Sharif when she was 17 years old after she paused her schooling in Poland to move to live with her mothers friend in Woking, Surrey, to learn English.
In December 2007 she started working at the local Burger King, where he was shift manager.
I was young, I actually thought he was Portuguese because I didnt have much knowledge about nationalities then, she says.
Urfan didnt waste his time, and soon they were dating, despite the nine-year age gap and significant language barriers.
Everything was perfect in the beginning, but because I was so young I didnt really notice the red flags, she recalls.
His friends were always around. If I went just a few metres away from him, to the park or to the shop, he already knew where I was, who I was talking to.
At first I was flattered, I just thought, Oh, hes jealous. But after a year it got worse.
Angelika (pictured) first met Sharif when she was 17 years old - but their romance soon turned into horrific abuse
Sara was beaten to death by her abusive father in August last year 9
Saras mother Olga Domin (pictured) met Sharif at a wine festival in Poland before he convinced her to move to Woking with him
The first time Angelika remembers being truly terrified was when she returned to their apartment to find Sharif in a fit of rage.
He just grabbed me and threw me onto the couch, she says. He started shouting at me, he was so aggressive. He opened my legs saying he wanted to know I wasnt cheating on him.
It was awful. I was shocked. And after that scene, it only got worse.
His jealousy deepened and a few months later, in the winter of 2007, when Angelika was barely 18, she said the devil emerged in Sharif.
During a break at work, he rushed to their home, burst through the door and started shouting furiously at her.
He picked me up and threw me on the couch. My pockets were torn. He ripped everything out, she said.
At that moment he grabbed a folding chair and held it over me – I honestly thought he was about to throw it at me.
Then he dropped the chair, picked up a knife, and grabbed my face firmly and squeezed my cheek with his hand.
He held the knife right up to my neck and told me: You are mine and only mine. He said that I am not going anywhere without him, and that if I ever talk to anyone again it will be the end of me.
Angelika (pictured) described how Sharif threatened her at knifepoint and locked her up in his house when she was just a teenager
Angelika said she is haunted by the thought that the same death could have faced her child with Sharif (Pictured: The Sharif family home in Woking, Surrey)
Sara is now back in Poland with her mother, Olga Domin, who tends lovingly to the flowers on her grave and lights the five Catholic prayer candles that adorn it
In a report to police read out in court, she said he punched her in the face. Sharif took her phone, passport and ID and locked the terrified teenager in their bedroom before storming out of the house.
Luckily for Angelika a small window was open and, moments after he left, she managed to squeeze out of the ground floor room and sprint to the police station.
I dont know how I managed it, I think the adrenaline, she says. Just in the moment, I knew I had to get out of there.
Surrey Police arrested Sharif at Burger King and, after handing back Angelikas possessions, he was held in a cell for 48 hours. They also found another womans bank card in his possession.
He insisted to officers that there had been a misunderstanding, that she had a key to the room and could have left it any time she wanted. In the meantime, his friends leant on Angelika not to press charges.
Nobody believed me, she said. Everyone said, Really? Urfan is a nice guy. Hes a good man. Why is he arrested?
Urfan has two faces. One is kind, nice, very lovely and always apologises. But the second face, the one people dont see, it is the devil.
I was alone. In the end I retracted my testimony and returned to Poland.
Angelika (pictured) reflects on what fate could have awaited her and the baby had it survived
Sara pictured at school before she was murdered by her father and stepmother
Angelika flew back to her home in Western Poland in January 2008, but Sharif would not give up on her.
He was writing me messages, calling me, begging me to give him another chance, she says. He knew how to play nice.
He even tried to burn her initials onto his own chest with a boiling spoon to demonstrate his love. Eventually, the 18-year-old relented.
He visited her in March and, shortly afterwards, proposed. He came to Poland with a ring already, Angelika said. I was happy, I thought we were starting something new.
In May that year she fell pregnant, news that delighted Urfan. But, two weeks later, she lost the baby.
I walked out of the gynaecologists office crying like a little child, she said. I called Urfan and told him that the baby hadnt survived - and he just tore into me, as if I was the worst.
He told me, You f***ing b****. You did it. You did the abortion, how could you? I was just on the phone with tears.
It was like two very bad punches to the face. I had lost my baby, and now Urfan was saying I did it on purpose. That was so painful.
Sara begun wearing a hijab to cover the bruises on her body
Beinash Batool, (stepmother, left), Faisal Malik, (uncle, centre) and Urfan Sharif (father, right) were arrested on their return to the UK after fleeing for Pakistan in the aftermath of Saras death
Balloons, flowers and tributes lay outside Saras home in Woking, Surrey following her death
Sharif being arrested at Gatwick Airport on suspicion of murdering his 10-year-old daughter Sara
Sharif (right, with wife Batool) had a pattern of attacking his partners, locking them up in the home and taking their passports
Saras uncle Faisal Malik is arrested by police officers on suspicion of her murder - he lived at the family home in Woking. He was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child
After this, Angelika finally ended the relationship for good. It left Urfan in a spot as his UK visa was fast running out.
The trial heard that he invited another Polish woman he met online to live with him – but she too fled after he held her captive in his house for five days. When police arrived they found a Polish certificate of approval for marriage.
Around this time Sharif saw on social media that Angelika had hooked up with her childhood sweetheart. It sent him over the edge.
Somehow, he convinced one of my friends to give him my husbands number, Angelika said. He called him saying he was going to cut his head off. It was so scary. For a long time, he was obsessed.
In fact, he was so obsessed that he came to the Polish town where she lives. It was on this trip, while looking for her, that he bumped into Olga Domin at a local wine festival.
He quickly invited her to his home, where they married and went on to have Sara.
It is a chilling thought for Angelika, at what could have been. Indeed, when she first heard that Sharif was on the run last year following Saras death she feared he might come for her.
She said: What scared me the most was a message he sent me once: I hope that before I die, Ill meet you again.
I just went back to those messages and I thought, Oh my God. It gave me chills.
When they were still looking for him, and they hadnt found him yet, I was so scared. I thought he might have come to Poland.
Sharif was flushed out by Pakistan police and on September 13 last year returned to the UK, where he was arrested.
Angelika recalled: I was like, thank God. Thank God Im safe. Now I will have no contact with him ever again.
She is now married with two beautiful young children of their own. Her love for them makes Sharifs crimes all the more unfathomable.
Listening to the details that are released now, that he was abusing for such a long time. His own child. Oh my God, my heart is very broken. Its broken into a million pieces, she said.
She has never met or spoken to Olga. But, as a fellow mother, she feels her pain intensely.
I just feel so very, very sorry for her, Angelika said. I feel so sad. Sometimes I have thought Id like to call her and just tell her how sorry I am.
I feel such a heaviness inside. I hope she has some peace.
Speaking after the guilty verdicts, Angelika added: ‘I feel the verdict is justified. I hope the sentence will be the harshest punishment possible for these monsters and they will not have a good life in prison.
‘It has been horrible watching this trial. Really horrible. I can’t believe that a human can do that to his own child.
‘I was watching every day the news. Every day I was searching for more news on it, and every days my eyes were getting bigger and bigger at what they have done to this little girl.
‘Because every day I was thinking that could have been me. I have this always on my mind now – always.
‘If I had stayed in a relationship with him it would have got worse and worse and worse. That could have been my life.’
On British authorities, she said: ‘I just don’t know why they didn’t do anything to save those kids. The police knew what he did. Why was this information not shared to stop him?
‘I feel very angry about it. Angry because there were so many red flags, right from the start. Since she was born. They could have stopped this.
‘There is clearly a problem with social services in Britain. Since Sara was born there were accidents, incidents, but they didn’t stop it.
‘They didn’t do anything and it got worse and worse and worse. The neighbours too, they didn’t call the police. She was failed by everyone – everyone.
‘Beinash’s sister too. I just find myself asking myself why was this happening? How? I thought in the UK there was really good, high level security for people. I don’t know how this was allowed to happen. There needs to be changes.’
As for Sharif, she said: ‘I have no words for him. For his evil. It is so horrible. I have small kids as well, it hurts so much to see what he did. All the bruises.
‘What they both did to her, and nobody called the police to save her life. How can there be such a big evil? How can you be such a monster? To break the bones of your own child.’
