Harshita Brella warned family husband Pankaj Lamba would kill her, mother of woman found dead in car boot says

A woman whose body was found in the boot of a car warned her family that her husband was going to kill her.

Police believe Harshita Brella, 24, was strangled to death in Corby, Northamptonshire, on the evening of 10 November.

An international manhunt was launched to find her husband Pankaj Lamba, 23, after her body was found in the boot of a silver Vauxhall Corsa on Brisbane Road in Ilford, east London, on 14 November.

Her mother Sudesh Kumari told BBC Newsnight she had spoken to her “very simple, very innocent” daughter just weeks before her death.

“(Lamba) was making her life miserable,” she said. “She said I will not go back to him. He will kill me.”

Ms Brella’s father broke down in tears as he told the broadcaster “she was a very sweet daughter” who had told him Lamba was hurting her.

“She told me about it earlier, but it was on the morning of 29 August when she called me crying and said he beat me really badly,” he said.

“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) watchdog has said it will investigate Northamptonshire Police’s contact with Ms Brella and her husband.

She made a report of domestic abuse to police in August and Lamba was arrested on 3 September, but was released on conditional bail and a domestic violence protection order was put in place.

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The force previously said officers began searching for Ms Brella after receiving a call with concerns for her welfare on 13 November – the day before she was found dead.

CCTV was released of the couple walking at a boating lake on 10 November, the same day police believe she was killed.