The Delhi-based family of Harshita Brella, the 24-year-old found dead in a car boot in east London recently, have called for justice as the U.K. police continue to hunt for her husband as a suspect in her murder and renewed their appeal for information on Tuesday (November 19, 2024).
Northamptonshire Police released further CCTV images along with a timeline that identifies November 10 as the evening she was killed at her home in Corby, with the preliminary cause of death given as strangulation allegedly by 23-year-old Pankaj Lamba.
“Our inquiries have established that Pankaj Lamba drove a Silver Vauxhall Corsa from Corby to Ilford sometime on the morning of Monday, November 11. We suspect Harshita’s body had been placed in the boot of the vehicle by Mr. Lamba before leaving Corby. Mr. Lamba then abandoned the vehicle in Brisbane Road, Ilford and made his getaway,” said Detective Chief Inspector Johnny Campbell, Senior Investigating Officer from the East Midlands Special Operations Major Crime Unit (EMSOU).
“Any information, no matter how small, may be relevant to the investigation and help us get justice for Harshita. Specialist officers continue to provide support to Harshita’s family and our thoughts are with them at this extremely difficult time as they try to come to terms with the tragic loss of their daughter and sister,” he said.
In an interview with the BBC this week, Brella’s mother Sudesh Kumari, father Sabir Brella and sister Sonia Dabas spoke through tears about losing Harshita. Northamptonshire Police had earlier launched an international manhunt for Pankaj Lamba, whom they suspect of murdering his wife earlier this month at her home in Corby before driving her body to London some 145 km away and fleeing the country after abandoning the car.
“I want my son-in-law to be brought to justice and I want my daughter’s body brought home,” Satbir Brella told the BBC in Delhi.
He described his daughter as a simple and serious young woman who wanted to be a teacher. She had married Lamba after an arranged match last year and moved to the U.K. in April. According to Ms. Dabas, her sister worked in a warehouse and Mr. Lamba was a student in London.
“She struggled a lot because of her husband,” said Ms. Dabas, adding that she had asked her sister to “quit and come to India”.
“She was a part of me and I was a part of her. I now feel like I can’t do anything in life without her,” she said.
The family says they had last spoken to Harshita over the phone on November 10, when she told them she had made dinner and was waiting for Mr. Lamba to come home. Her phone was then switched off for the next two days and by November 13 they were worried for her safety and asked people they knew to file a complaint. Northamptonshire Police was contacted then regarding concerns for Harshita’s welfare, which then led to the discovery of her body and the launch of a murder investigation.
“Our inquiries lead us to suspect that Harshita was murdered in Northamptonshire earlier this month by her husband Pankaj Lamba,” said Chief Inspector Paul Cash.
“We suspect Mr. Lamba transported Harshita’s body from Northamptonshire to Ilford (east London) by car. We believe he has now fled the country… More than 60 detectives are working on the case and are continuing to follow numerous lines of inquiry, including house-to-house, property searches, CCTV and ANPR (automatic number plate recognition),” he said.
According to the family, Harshita’s husband had complained about her failing to make him food on time and said that she was talking to her mother too much. At the end of August, she had phoned her father in India to say she had run away because her husband was violent. The police have since confirmed that Harshita had been the subject of a domestic abuse order, which imposes restrictions on the accused against approaching or threatening the victim.
Her father told the BBC the family hopes her body can be brought home to India so “her soul can get peace and then maybe we will too”.
Meanwhile, the police are continuing to appeal for any information that will help “piece together exactly what happened as we work to get justice for Harshita”.
Published – November 20, 2024 10:30 am IST
