Harshita Brella cried to parents ‘my husband is going to kill me’ before her murder

Harshita Brella whose body was found dumped in a car boot cried to her mum ‘my husband is going to kill me’.

The 24-year-old was found in the boot of a silver Vauxhall Corsa in Ilford, east London, on November 14.

She is thought to have been strangled to death at her home in Corby, Northamptonshire on November 10 and driven 100 miles to Brisbane Road three days later.

Her body was found in the boot of the car the next day, and her husband Pankaj Lamba, 23, is the prime suspect in her murder.

Harshita’s mum Sudesh Kumari told the BBC she spoke to her daughter just weeks before her death, who said Lamba will kill her.

Sudesh said: ‘Lamba was making her life miserable. She said “I will not go back to him. He will kill me”.’

She described her daughter as ‘very simple, very innocent’, adding: ‘She did not fight with people.’

CCTV footage obtained by ITV News appears to show Lamba’s pacing next to the car in which Harshita’s body was found on day she is believed to have been murdered.

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

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

He said: ‘She was a very sweet daughter.’

‘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?’

Harshita had told her parents Lamba was hurting her, and called her dad crying saying ‘he beat me really badly’.

Satbir said: ‘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.

‘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 Harshita, while an international manhunt is under way for Lamba.

Harshita 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.

Northamptonshire Police has been contacted for comment.

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