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Days after 24-year-old Harshita Brella - an Indian woman from Delhi living with her husband in the UK - was found dead with her body stashed away in the boot of a car, his family has pointed to a dowry angle in the case.
Harshita Brella married Pankaj Lamba - who has been missing since her murder - on March 22 this year. Now, Sonia Brella, the elder sister of Harshita, suspects that she was murdered for dowry even though they had given the Lamba family gold and money during the wedding.
"The family had given a lot of dowry to Pankaj but still he was not happy, he kept demanding dowry from us," she told ANI.
An investigation by the Northamptonshire Police suggests that Harshita Brella was murdered on November 10. On the same night, she was seen walking with her husband by a boating lake in Corby where she lived.
As per the police, Harshita Brella's body had been transported from Corby to east London - some 145 kilometers away - by car, which was found parked with her body on Brisbane Road, Ilford on November 14. The car allegedly belonged to her husband.
Earlier, her father, Sabir Brella, also alleged that Lamba and his family used to harass her for dowry. "Pankaj used to beat her and force her to get money. Due to the regular fights, she started living separately and working in a warehouse. Despite living separately, he would handle her bank accounts," he said.
However, she kept giving money to him "with a hope that some day things will become normal", her father said, adding, " She didn't know that this would be the end.
"On August 29, when Pankaj had beaten her she lodged a complaint against him. Subsequently, his family members had come at our house here and again started demanding dowry, due to which my father sold some property to fulfill their demand and by February we were able to fulfill the demand. We were about to fulfil their demands after we got the money in hand," Sonia Brella said.
Harshita Brella was the subject of a 28-day domestic violence order against Lamba, which had not been renewed at the time of her killing.
"She used to give us every moment's information. This case was closed on October 30 when Pankaj paid the fine, but Harshita was not informed about it," her sister claimed.
Recalling her last video call with Harshita, her sister said, "We had the last video call with Harshita on November 10 when she told us that she was preparing food for Pankaj who was coming over for dinner."
"From the next day her phone was not reachable. We had a feeling that Pankaj had killed her by then," she added.
Even as the police are looking for Pankaj Lamba and released a series of CCTV images of him, her family claimed that he fled to India a day after the brutal murder.
"We have proof of him coming back to India, which we have told to London police. Here no one is helping us. We have also approached our local police and filed a complaint of dowry harassment against Pankaj and her parents," Sonia Brella said.
Harshita Brella's body might reach India in a week or two, she added.
Her sister also alleged that Lamba's family knows his whereabouts and is aware of the murder: "When I called Pankaj's mother about the news, she coolly replied that at least my sister was returning back. She said her son's whereabouts are not known. But, on the other hand, they are not even trying to find his whereabouts and are calm. This behaviour raises suspicions."
Earlier this week, an inquest into Harshita Brella's killing was opened in Northampton and adjourned until May 21, 2025, while the murder investigation remains ongoing. The provisional cause of her death was noted as "manual strangulation pending toxicology and histology" at the inquest hearing.