Sara Sharif’s father, Urfan Sharif, along with his partner and her uncle have left Pakistan this morning and are returning to the UK, ITV News understands.
The three family members, including Sara’s five siblings, fled the UK for Pakistan after police discovered her body in Woking on August 10.
A post-mortem examination found the ten-year-old suffered “multiple and extensive injuries” over a “sustained and extended” period of time.
Surrey Police launched an international man hunt for Sharif, Batool and Malik.
ITV News has seen photos of the three people passing through passport control at Sialkot Airport on Wednesday morning.
It appears to suggest they have boarded a flight to Gatwick due to land on Wednesday evening, having stopped over at Dubai where they changed flights bound for the UK, ITV News understands.
Urfan Sharif, 41, his partner Beinash Batool, 29 and his brother Faisal Malik, 28 are understood to have boarded a flight this morning from Pakistan with the intention of returning to London.
Surrey Police have said they will not currently be commenting.
Around a month after Sara Sharif’s body was discovered, police in Jhelum, 108 miles north-west of the Pakistan city of Lahore, said Sharif and his wife Batool were in hiding.
Officers brought ten of Sharif’s relatives in for questioning on Saturday.
The head of Pakistan’s child protection services says Sara Sharif’s siblings are doing well
It is common in Pakistan to detain the close family of wanted suspects but they are not kept in jail to avoid having to go to court.
Police found Sara’s five siblings, who are aged between one and 13, after a raid at their grandfather’s home in Jhelum.
On Tuesday, a court in Pakistan ruled they should be looked after by child protection services until their long-term custody is decided.
Last week, Sara’s stepmother spoke publicly for the first time since the little girl was found dead.
Sharif sat silently beside her as Batool described Sara’s death as “an incident” and says the pair are willing to co-operate with UK authorities over the case.
Urfan Sharif and his partner Beinash Batool speak out on Sara Sharid’s death
Sara’s grandfather previously told the BBC the girl’s death was an “accident” and three family members who left the UK for Pakistan will “ultimately” return to face police questioning.
Muhammad Sharif said he saw Sara’s father soon after he arrived in the city of Jhelum, in the South Asian country, and said his son had fled the UK out of “fear”.
Surrey Police is appealing for information to help them gain a picture of Sara’s life.
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