Harshita Brella homicide suspect’s mother and father arrested in India on suspicion of ‘inflicting her loss of life by subjecting her to cruelty and harassment’
The parents of a man who is believed to have fled the country after the body of his wife was found in the boot of a car in east London have reportedly been arrested in India.
Harshita Brella, a 24-year-old from India who lived in Corby, Northamptonshire, was discovered strangled to death last November.
Police believed she was murdered by her husband Pankaj Lamba, 23, with whom she entered into an arranged marriage in August 2023.
Lamba’s parents have now been arrested by police in India and charged with causing her death by subjecting her to cruelty and harassment in connection with a demand for dowry, the BBC has reported.
The arrests, which are understood to have followed a complaint from Ms Brella’s family, were made under India’s ‘dowry death’ law.
The law decrees that when a woman dies ‘otherwise than under normal circumstances’ within seven years of marrying, and there is evidence she suffered ‘cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband’ in relation to a demand for dowry, the husband or relative ‘shall be deemed to have caused her death’.
Ms Brella had previously tried to flee from her husband. She first went to police claiming to have been the victim of domestic violence last August, following which she was identified as being at high risk of domestic abuse.
She was subsequently placed in a refuge and Lamba was issued with a domestic violence protection order while investigations were carried out.
Harshita Brella, a 24-year-old from India who lived in Corby, Northamptonshire, was found strangled to death last November. Her body was discovered in the boot of a car in east London
Police believe she was murdered by her husband Pankaj Lamba, 23, with whom she entered into an arranged marriage in August 2023. Lamba’s parents have now been arrested in India
CCTV image showing Pankaj Lamba and Harshita Brella at Corby Boating Lake on Sunday, November 10, at about 6.30pm
But her sister, Sonia Dabas, said she felt police ‘did not do enough to help her or protect’ Ms Brella.
While police in Northamptonshire continue to investigate, Satbir Singh, Ms Brella’s father, told the BBC following the latest developments that he felt the inquiry was finally progressing.
Ms Dabas has previously said her sister met Lamba for the first time three days before moving to the UK with him, describing her younger sibling as ‘very innocent, so kindhearted but just a kid’.
Videos on social media of Ms Brella’s wedding in India showed her panting for breath, placing a hand on her chest, with the caption: ‘That nervousness after becoming a bride.’
She had spent £300 on make-up and an elaborate wedding lehenga skirt.
‘Our world has been turned upside down,’ Ms Dabas said in the immediate aftermath of her sister’s death. ‘We’re calling on the UK and Indian governments to capture him.’
An image released following Ms Brella’s death showed her walking with Lamba at Corby Boating Lake in Northamptonshire around 6.30pm on November 10.
Investigators working on the case suspect Ms Brella was murdered in Corby that evening, with her body then transported to east London by car.
