‘I’m here to fight for justice’: Harshita Brella’s family in UK as hunt continues for husband suspected of murder

. UK edition

Sonia Dabas, Satbir Brella and Sudesh Kumari on a sofa
Brella’s sister Sonia Dabas, father Satbir Singh and mother Sudesh Kumari in Kettering. Photograph: John Robertson/The Guardian

Family criticises police handling Brella’s claims of abuse by Pankaj Lamba before she was killed in 2024

When Sonia Dabas described her younger sister, she spoke with tears in her eyes and a visceral sense of heartbreak. “We completed each other,” the 30-year-old said. “I always guided her. She always shared everything with me, her problems … Without her, no one can understand me. She is the only one.”

It has been 18 months since Harshita Brella, a 24-year-old Indian national living in the UK, was found dead in the boot of a Vauxhall Corsa in east London on 14 November 2024.

The discovery prompted an international manhunt for Brella’s husband, Pankaj Lamba, 24, who detectives believe killed Brella in Corby, Northamptonshire, days before and subsequently fled to India.

In March 2025, Lamba was charged with Brella’s murder as well as two counts of rape, sexual assault and controlling or coercive behaviour. He is yet to be found.

It is why Dabas, accompanied by her parents, Satbir Singh and Sudesh Kumari, and her young children, made the 4,000-mile journey from Delhi to Corby to meet MPs, police chiefs and journalists, in the hope this would prompt further action in the investigation into Brella’s killing and – most importantly – in finding Lamba.

“We talked to police … they [didn’t] give any new update,” she said. “The same words are happening from the last 18 months.”

During their visit, Brella’s family repeated their criticism of Northamptonshire police officers who handled Brella’s domestic abuse claims before she was killed. They believe that if officers had acted appropriately, Brella could still be alive.

Brella was subject to a domestic violence protection order lasting 28 days after submitting a police report against Lamba on 29 August 2024, more than two months before she was killed. Lamba was arrested and released on the bail condition that he did not harass, pester or intimidate his wife. At the time, Brella wrote a letter detailed the alleged abuse she had suffered.

Dabas recalled speaking to her sister the day after she had been physically abused and said: “She [was] crying and saying he hit her really hard. This word, I never forget in my life – he hit her really hard.”

Dabas said Lamba and his family broke the bail conditions and harassed Brella in the UK and her family in India, putting pressure on her to withdraw the police report. Dabas said Brella informed the police about this but officers did “not take action against him”.

She said police in Northamptonshire also “misguide[d] my sister” by telling her she could not go back to India in early September 2024 as she had issued a complaint against her husband.

“When my father [was] saying on 4 or 5 September: ‘Come back [to] India, no one is listening there’ … then my sister was saying: ‘Me and Pankaj can’t leave this country, police is saying, because the case is registered here,’” Dabas said. “If she came to India at that time, she [would be] alive.”

Singh, speaking through a translator, said: “Police did not guide her properly and police did not really help, which they should have done for a woman in a vulnerable condition.”

Dabas said the police did not give Brella the correct information and this put her younger sister at risk. “This responsibility is on the police. They need[ed] to inform Harshita about [her] rights.”

Northamptonshire police said misconduct hearings had now concluded for two officers and misconduct was not proved and no further action would be taken. Gross misconduct hearings for two further officers will be held later this year.

Dabbas also criticised the police force in Delhi, which she said was not taking action to find Lamba. “We are going again and again. They are [saying]: ‘It’s not our headache. Murder happened in UK.’”

Dabbas accused Delhi police of corruption and said Lamba’s relative was a member of the force. She said she provided details of Lamba’s flight to India in November 2024, when the family discovered he had fled the UK, but “Delhi police didn’t help us”.

Delhi police have been contacted for comment. The force previously said it was offering a reward for information about Lamba and the search for him was still under way.

During their visit to the UK, Brella’s family visited the place where she lived and is thought to have died, as well as attending a memorial service.

Dabas said the support she had received from Corby residents and people across the UK was “amazing”. “UK citizens are so kind-hearted. They are supporting us,” she said. “This means a lot for us to continue this fight.”

Despite the lack of developments in the investigation, it is clear there is little that could extinguish Dabas’s determination to secure justice for her younger sister.

“My life is over without her. She is half part of me and I am half part of her. So I am living incomplete,” Dabas said.

“I’m here to prove a sister’s love. I will show the world the strength of a sister’s love. If one dies, another one can die for her to get justice.”

Singh added: “I’m here to fight for justice for my daughter.”

A spokesperson from Northamptonshire police said Brella’s family met officers on 21 May and were “reassured of the force’s absolute commitment to securing justice”.

“This has been and remains an exceptionally complex case,” the spokesperson said. “With criminal proceedings active in the UK, we are unable to go into detail about the case. The investigation, however, is very much ongoing and we are continuing to work with the appropriate agencies both in the UK and internationally.”