Harshita Brella told her mother her husband 'was going to kill her', family say - as murder suspect still at large

By Flaminia Luck

A woman whose body was found in the boot of a car in east London allegedly told her mother that her husband "was going to kill her".

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Harshita Brella, 24, was found in the boot of a silver Vauxhall Corsa in Brisbane Road, Ilford, east London, on November 14.

Her husband Pankaj Lamba, 23, is the prime suspect in her murder.

Police believe she was strangled in Corby, Northamptonshire, on the evening of November 10 before her body was driven to Ilford in the boot of a car the next day.

In an emotional interview with BBC Newsnight, her mother Sudesh Kumari said she spoke to her daughter just weeks before her death.

"(Lamba) was making her life miserable," she said.

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

She said her daughter was "very simple, very innocent".

"She did not fight with people," she said.

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Her family believe that Lamba is in India, but told Newsnight that police in Delhi claim they have not had a request from Northamptonshire Police to arrest him.

Northamptonshire police have been contacted for comment.

Harshita's father Satbir Brella broke down crying as he spoke to the BBC.

"She was a very sweet daughter," he said.

He said his family have been suffering ever since her death.

"The police in Delhi are not listening to us. They say the UK police have not made a request, so how can we do anything?" he said. "How can we arrest him?"

He said his daughter had told him before that Lamba was hurting her.

"She told me about it earlier, but it was on the morning of August 29 when she called me crying and said he beat me really badly," he said

"She said I have called a friend and she is coming to help me. I told that friend can you take Harshita to your home and I will speak to her a little later.

"My daughter was crying, crying so hard."

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it will investigate Northamptonshire Police's contact with Ms Brella, while an international manhunt is under way for Lamba.

Ms Brella had made a report of domestic abuse to police in August and Lamba had been arrested on September 3, but was released on conditional bail and a domestic violence protection order was put in place, the watchdog previously said.