Harshita Brella ‘told family she believed husband will kill her’

Harshita Brella allegedly told her mother that her husband “was going to kill her” weeks before her body was found in the boot of a car in east London.

Police believe the 24-year-old was fatally strangled in Corby, Northamptonshire on 10 November and driven to Ilford before her body was found on 14 November. Her husband Pankaj Lamba is the murder investigation’s prime suspect.

“He was making her life miserable,” a tearful Sudesh Kumari, Harshita’s mother, told the BBC.

“She said I will not go back to him. He will kill me.”

Harshita’s family think Mr Lamba is in India but said police there were “not listening” to them. Local police have told the BBC that UK authorities have not requested for them to intervene.

Clutching a framed photo of his daughter, Satbir Brella, 53, sobbed in the family’s sparsely furnished living room in Delhi as he begged for justice.

“I used to say to her, when I die I want you to perform my final rites,” he said in an interview with BBC. “I had no idea that I would have to do hers.”

The family also said Harshita had a miscarriage in the weeks before her death.

Because the alleged crime was committed in the UK, Delhi Police say they are unable to conduct their own investigation. Without a complaint in India, there is very little that can be done.

Northamptonshire Police said its investigation “continues at pace” and it is “following numerous lines of enquiry”, but did not confirm whether it had been in contact with authorities in India.

Assistant Chief Constable Emma James added: “Maintaining the integrity of our investigation and securing justice for Harshita is our number one priority and as a result of that, there are certain aspects of this case that we are unable to comment on at the moment.”

Both Mr Brella and Harshita’s sister, Sonia Dabas, said they had been told that Mr Lamba had hit his wife but alleged that the full scale did not become clear until she called her father crying on 29 August.

“She said ‘he beat me really badly. He even beat me in the street’,” Mr Brella said. “My daughter was crying, crying so hard.”

Mr Lamba was arrested on 3 September and was made the subject of a domestic violence protection order (DVPO) when he was released on bail two days later. The order barred him from harassing, pestering or intimidating Harshita, and he also had to pay police £480 in costs.

The order lasted for 28 days and expired on 1 October, but Ms Dabas said Harshita and her family believed it would expire on 24 November. Northamptonshire Police said it told Harshita about the expiry date.

Harshita and Mr Lamba entered into an arranged marriage, with a legal wedding held in August 2023.

The couple had a traditional Indian ceremony on 22 March this year and Harshita left for the UK at the end of April to join her husband who was already in Corby.

“She was very gullible,” said Ms Dabas. “Very trusting of people. She was still a kid. Her heart was pure.”

Harshita’s mother said she last saw her daughter at the airport in New Delhi, the day she left to start her new life in the UK.

“She was crying a lot saying goodbye to me. I didn’t know she was saying goodbye to me for the last time,” cried Sudesh.

Sitting on a cream coloured plastic chair next to her mother, Ms Dabas claimed Harshita’s husband was very controlling from the very beginning.

“I personally did not like him,” she said. “He told her that you shouldn’t speak to your sister. Harshita asked us not to call her, instead she would call us when Pankaj was not around.”

“He was manipulating her. He was selling her a dream of a good life. She was taken by it. She believed him. She kept falling into his trap.”

Ms Dabas said her sister had no access to any money. Harshita’s bank account and the money she made from her job at a warehouse were all controlled by her husband.

“She couldn’t even buy a chocolate for herself,” she added. “She was living a life of torture. Mentally and physically.”

When Mr Lamba was arrested, Harshita was identified by police as being at high risk for domestic abuse and was placed in a refuge for her safety. North Northamptonshire Council’s leader Jason Smithers said that a safety plan for Harshita was formulated at the same time.

According to her sister, that is when Harshita became unwell and had to visit the hospital. She found out she was pregnant. But within days, she lost the baby.

Harshita’s family contacted Northamptonshire Police with concerns for her welfare three days after they had last spoken to her. This led to the discovery of her body and the launch of a murder investigation.

The force has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), a mandatory step because of officers’ previous contact with Harshita.

Dozens of people gathered outside the Brella family home for her funeral in India on 3 December, after her body had been repatriated.

ACC James said that Northamptonshire Police was in regular contact with Harshita’s family.

She added: “I want to be clear that we are absolutely committed to securing justice for Harshita Brella and her family, and a team of detectives across the region continue to work around the clock on the case.

“When we are able to give more information to the general public about our investigation and the search for Harshita’s killer, we will of course do so.”

Additional reporting by Aakriti Thapar.