Harshita Brella had allegedly told her mother that her husband threatened her that he was "going to kill her". Weeks later, the 24-year-old’s dead body was found in a car boot in east London on November 14. Her husband Pankaj Lamba remains the prime suspect.


According to the BBC, Harshita’s family consisting of Brella’s mother Sudesh Kumari, father Sabir Brella and sister Sonia Dabas believe that Lamba is back in India, but the police were not listening to them.


The family also stated that Harshita had a miscarriage in the weeks before her death.


Kumari told the news outlet that Lamba was making Harshita’s life miserable. The mother added, "She said I will not go back to him. He will kill me."


Meanwhile, her sister, Dabas, said they had been told that Lamba had hit his wife but claimed that the full scale did not become clear until she called her father crying on August 29.


Satbir Brella told BBC, "She said 'he beat me really badly. He even beat me in the street'. My daughter was crying, crying so hard."


On September 3, Lamba was arrested over domestic violence but was released on bail two days later. During which, Harshita was identified by police as being at high risk for domestic abuse and was placed in a refuge for her safety. The order barred him from harassing, pestering or intimidating Harshita, and he also had to pay police £480 in costs. The order lasted 28 days and expired on October 1, but Dabas said that Harshita and her family believed it would expire on November 24. Northamptonshire Police said it told Harshita about the expiry date.


Lamba and Harshita got married in August 2023, following which in April this year, she went to London to live with her husband. She worked in a warehouse, while her husband was studying. But he cut her off financially, as he handled her bank account, Lamba would often tell her to stop talking to her family so much. Harshita would only speak to her family when her husband wasn’t around.


"I personally did not like him," Kumari told the BBC. "He told her that you shouldn't speak to your sister. Harshita asked us not to call her, instead she would call us when Pankaj was not around."


"He was manipulating her. He was selling her a dream of a good life. She was taken by it. She believed him. She kept falling into his trap," she added.


In the weeks that led up to her murder, she fell ill and decided to visit the doctor, where she got to know that she was pregnant. But she lost her baby, within a few days.


Meanwhile, Lamba’s mother, Sunil Devi, told the BBC that “she cannot believe this”.  She said her son and daughter-in-law had sent her photos of the food they had cooked on November 10 and she had thought they were "happy in their lives".


"Some people even say he's been killed. We don't know what people are saying. I can't understand anything. We've left it to God," she said. When asked about Lamba hitting his wife, she said that only the police knew what had happened. She added she did not know what to do, and now her only son is caught up in a murder investigation.