Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Permission to remove children from class for homeschooling should never be granted where abuse concerns have been flagged, the children's commissioner for England said Thursday.
Dame Rachel de Souza made the call a day after Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool were convicted of murdering Sara Sharif whom they had withdrawn from school in April 2023 after her teachers alerted child protective services about bruises on the 10-year-old's face.
An investigation produced no definitive outcome but the school was instructed to monitor Sara, prompting her father and stepmother to remove her from school.
Four months later Sara was dead, beaten to death by Sharif who then fled the country with Batool, their five other children and Sara's uncle, Faisal Malik.
Malik was acquitted of murder but convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child at the end of an eight week trial at the Old Bailey.
"If a child is the suspected victim of abuse, they cannot be educated at home. Being in school is a safeguard. They are safer under the eyes of teachers," Dame Rachel told the BBC.
"We cannot let a child who is at risk at home go and be educated at home. It's madness."
She also demanded that proposed government "children's wellbeing" legislation should mandate a register of all pupils being homeschooled so that authorities can keep track of children to help keep them safe.
"We need proper oversight of children being educated at home, through the long-promised register of children not in school and by requiring councils to sign off on home educating requests for some of the most vulnerable children," Dame Rachel said in a statement.
Dame Rachel was also highly critical of what she said was a lack of sharing of data between agencies -- health, social services, education authorities and police -- and between different parts of the country that was hobbling efforts to figure out which children were at risk of abuse.
Surrey County Council, the authority responsible for the area of southern England where Sara was killed in Woking, announced an independent statutory investigation into what went wrong in Sara's case looking at all professionals who had contact with the Sharif family.
Announcing the Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review, SCC children's services exective director Rachael Wardell, pledged the council would fully cooperate in the effort but refused to comment on any potential missteps until it was complete.
"Sara's death is incredibly distressing and we share in the profound horror at the terrible details that have emerged during the trial. We cannot begin to comprehend the suffering that poor Sara endured at the hands of members of her family who should have loved, protected, and cared for her," Wardell said in a statement.
"The focus of the trial has been on the evidence needed to secure the convictions of those responsible for Sara's death. This means that until the independent safeguarding review concludes, a complete picture cannot be understood or commented upon.
"What is clear from the evidence we've heard in court is that the perpetrators went to extreme lengths to conceal the truth from everyone.
"We are resolute in our commitment to protecting children, and we are determined to play a full and active part in the forthcoming review alongside partner agencies, to thoroughly understand the wider circumstances surrounding Sara's tragic death," said Wardell.