The sister of Harshita Brella has described her death as “the murder of thousands of dreams”, as police continue to hunt for her suspected killer.
Pictures released on Tuesday show Brella’s husband, Pankaj Lamba, walking along the street in east London after he is thought to have killed her before fleeing the country.
Lamba drove the car containing his wife’s body to London before he abandoned it and “made his getaway”, police said, as they released new pictures of the suspect.
Police revealed Brella was strangled before her body was allegedly left in the boot of a car in east London in the early hours of 14 November.
What we know
Northamptonshire Police was contacted on 13 November by a member of the public concerned for Brella’s welfare. Officers went to her home in Skegness Walk, Corby, but got no answer.
A missing persons investigation was launched and her body was found in the Vauxhall Corsa in Brisbane Road, Ilford, east London, on 14 November.
Police say they believe Brella, 24, was murdered on the evening of 10 November by her husband. They think he then put Brella’s body in the boot of the vehicle before driving from Corby to Ilford some time the following morning.
It is alleged he then abandoned the car and “made his getaway.”
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Johnny Campbell from the East Midlands Special Operations Major Crime Unit, said officers are following “numerous lines of inquiry”.
A forensic postmortem examination carried out at Leicester Royal Infirmary on 15 November gave the preliminary cause of death as strangulation.
On 19 November, the force released new images of Lamba taken in Ilford around the time he is alleged to have abandoned his car.
One shows him walking along Jaffe Road with his hands in his pockets and a light coloured jacket hood over his head. Another is a close-up of Lamba wearing a plain, white T-shirt.
A third image shows the silver Vauxhall Corsa abandoned on Brisbane Road where Brella’s body was found.
They have urged anyone with any information that may assist inquiries – “no matter how small” – to contact them. More than 60 detectives are now working on the case.
Northamptonshire Police has made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) because of its previous contact with Brella.
However, it hasn’t given any further details about that previous contact and what it entailed.
It is not known which country Lamba has fled to, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.
Police have also confirmed Brella had previously been the victim of domestic violence, and in early September was made the subject of a domestic violence protection order (DVPO) at Northampton Magistrates’ Court.
The Northamptonshire Telegraph reported that the DVPO banned the perpetrator of the violence from visiting Brella’s workplace.
‘We just want justice’
Speaking from Delhi, India, on Tuesday, Brella’s sister Sonia Dabas described her as “very innocent” and “childlike”.
She told Sky News: “If it’s two steps or two hours away, [we were] always together. We wore similar clothes, even after marriage, even if she was shopping we would show each other on video calls, even if it was buying a T-shirt. Even though we were far, we were so close.”
Dabas said her sibling was “very excited” to move to the UK in April after an arranged marriage with Lamba, but said she “didn’t live a very happy life”. She said Brella had been working in a warehouse while Lamba was a student in London.
Brella’s family in India also told the BBC on 18 November that they last spoke to her by phone on 10 November and that her phone was off for the next two days.
The family “thought something was wrong” by 13 November and asked people to file a complaint.
Speaking from India on Monday, Brella’s mother, Sudesh Kumari, told BBC News: “I just want justice for my daughter.”
Her father, Satbir Brella, said: “I want my son-in-law to be brought to justice and I want my daughter’s body brought home.”
Neighbour Kelly Philp told the Daily Mirror said she heard the row between a man and a woman on Wednesday, hours before Brella’s body was discovered.
She said: “They were arguing in a different language so I couldn’t understand what was being said. But it sounded angry and there were raised voices and the woman sounded scared.
“I heard a commotion between a man and a woman and I heard banging around. I didn’t call the police. I just thought it was a relationship argument.”
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