Satbir Brella breaks down saying he wants justice for his daughter
Harshita Brella allegedly told her mother 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 November 10 and driven to Ilford before her body was found on November 14. Her husband Pankaj Lamba is the main suspect in the murder investigation.
“He was making her life miserable,” Sudesh Kumari, Harshita’s mother, told the BBC through tears.
“She said I wouldn't come back to him. He would kill me.”
Harshita's family believes Mr Lamba is in India, but said the police there “didn't listen to them”. Local police told the BBC that British authorities had not asked 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 told him: when I die, I want you to perform my last rites,” he said in an interview with the BBC. “I had no idea I would have to do his.”
The family also said Harshita suffered a miscarriage in the weeks before her death.
As the alleged crime was committed in the UK, Delhi Police say they are unable to conduct their own investigation. In India, without complaint, not much can be done.
Northamptonshire Police said its investigation “continues at pace” and is “following numerous lines of inquiry”, but did not confirm whether it had been in contact with Indian authorities.
Deputy Chief Constable Emma James added: “Maintaining the integrity of our investigation and achieving justice for Harshita is our number one priority and, as a result, there are certain aspects of this case that we are unable to comment on. comment at the moment. »
Mr Brella and Harshita's sister Sonia Dabas said they were told Mr Lamba had hit his wife, but claimed the scale of the attack only became clear when she called his father crying on August 29.
“She said 'he really beat me. He even beat me in the street,'” Mr. Brella said. “My daughter was crying, crying so hard.”
Mr Lamba was arrested on September 3 and made the subject of a domestic violence protection order (DVPO) before being released on bail two days later. The order prohibited him from harassing, harassing or intimidating Harshita, and he also had to pay police £480 costs.
The order lasted 28 days and expired on October 1, but Ms Dabas said Harshita and her family thought it would expire on November 24. Northamptonshire Police said they informed Harshita of the expiry date.
“His heart was pure”
Harshita and Mr Lamba entered into an arranged marriage, with the legal marriage taking place in August 2023.
The couple had a traditional Indian ceremony on March 22 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,” Ms. Dabas said. “Very trusting of people. She was still a child. Her heart was pure.”
Harshita's mother said she last saw her daughter at New Delhi airport on the day she left to start her new life in the UK.
“She was crying a lot while saying goodbye to me. I didn't know she was saying goodbye to me for the last time,” cried Sudesh.
BBC / Neha Sharma
Harshita's mother, Sudesh Kumari, last saw her daughter the day she moved to the UK.
Sitting on a cream-colored plastic chair next to her mother, Ms. Dabas claimed that Harshita's husband was very bossy from the beginning.
“Personally, I didn’t like him,” she said. “He told her that you should not talk to your sister. Harshita asked us not to call her, but she would call us when Pankaj was not there.”
“He manipulated her. He sold her the dream of a good life. She was seduced. 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 earned from her warehouse job were all controlled by her husband.
“She couldn’t even buy a chocolate,” she added. “She lived a life of torture. Mentally and physically.”
When Mr Lamba was arrested, Harshita was identified by police as a high risk of domestic violence and was placed in a shelter for her safety. North Northamptonshire Council leader Jason Smithers said a safety plan for Harshita had been formulated at the same time.
According to her sister, that's when Harshita fell ill and had to go to the hospital. She discovered she was pregnant. But a few days later, she lost the baby.
Harshita's family contacted Northamptonshire Police with concerns about her welfare three days after she last spoke. This led to the discovery of his body and the launch of a murder investigation.
I can't help but imagine how my sister was murdered, says Sonia, Harshita's sister.
The force referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), a mandatory step due to officers' previous contact with Harshita.
Dozens of people gathered outside the Brella family home for his funeral in India on December 3, after his body was repatriated.
ACC James said Northamptonshire Police were in regular contact with Harshita's family.
She added: “I want to be clear that we are absolutely committed to achieving justice for Harshita Brella and her family, and a team of detectives from across the region continue to work around the clock on this case.
“When we are able to provide 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.
