When she was six, Sara complained that her mother hit her, but that her father and stepmother, who were convicted of her murder, didn’t

Sara Sharif told a social worker she felt safe living with her father and stepmother because “they don’t hit me”, four years before she died from their brutal campaign of torture.

The schoolgirl’s haunting words are buried in hundreds of pages of private family court papers that were disclosed after an application by media organisations, including the Guardian.