'I'll continue this fight till my last breath' - One year after her murder, Harshita Brella's sister says her family more determined than ever to get justice

Harshita Brella was murdered on November 10, 2024, in Corby and her husband, prime suspect Pankaj Lamba subsequently went on the run.

It’s believe he fled to India where he is thought to remain, being helped to evade justice by family members.

In his absence, Northamptonshire Police charged him with her murder in March this year. Since then, there has been no news from official channels.

In a searing interview, Harshita’s sister Sonia Dabas criticised both the UK and Indian police, and told our reporters how news of a new baby is helping her to keep focused on her sister.

Speaking from her home in Delhi via video call, Sonia Dabas spoke about her beloved sibling with such love, telling anecdotes about her kindness and sweet nature.

She said: “Harshita loved to help. She went to the library for study every day. She regularly went to visit our older uncle and made tea and biscuits for him.

"In the winter when she felt lazy and thought ‘I will not go for study, today I want to rest’, then she'll get in her mind, you know, uncle is waiting for the tea so I need to go.

"She was that type of person.”

"She was childish and innocent and there were some naughty things she loved to do. She loved to eat chocolate.”

Sonia spoke about what they would do as girls.

“We spent our time basically at home most of the time, but when we would go outside for shopping, we are foodies, we love to eat all dishes and taste everything. She loved to do make up and get ready, wear new clothes all the time. She brushed her hair three to four times a day.

“She was excited for life.”

Harshita’s parents arranged her marriage to Pankaj Lamba in August 2023. That day was the first time Sonia had met him.

"I didn’t get positivity from him. I didn’t feel he was good for my sister but everything was done so I couldn’t say anything at that time,” she said.

"The wedding was very royal. But Pankaj’s side of family wore the type of clothes I would feel shy to gift to somebody.

"They’re not equal to our standard. But I thought maybe he was studying in the UK so it would be OK.”

At that time, Lamba planned to take on a one-year management diploma and left for the UK in September 2023. In February 2024 Harshita joined him on a dependant visa.

Sonia said she was ‘excited’ move to the UK.

"She felt she would prove herself. A new life, a new journey. But only after 10 days she told me she was getting harassment.”

Harshita got a job at the Wincanton Web on May 10, and was promoted three times in six months.

Lamba was working as a security guard while he was studying and Harshita began to earn more money than him.

She moved into an admin role and was aiming to get a job as a manager within a year.

"She was very hard working,” said Sonia.

“But her personal life was very dangerous. She never told me anything. When there was the domestic violence she then told me the previous history.

“She was unhappy. She told me he may be cheating with some English. She was crying and saying she was pregnant and he saw the video call and cut the call.

"Then many women were calling Lamba and when Harshita picked up the phone they didn’t say anything.

"He always went missing for two to three days and left her alone. He said he was at work.

"Pankaj was playing with her feelings.”

Sonia says her sister was being forced to work extra hours by Lamba. She worked ten-hour shifts, and commuted across Corby by bicycle while he used their car. He also didn’t like her to talk to anyone at work and made her eat her lunch alone.

When she arrived home he allegedly made her wash all his clothes and then clean the house and cook for him.

"She never took a rest,” said Sonia. “Pankaj thought she was his slave.”

“I told her ‘you are also a human being, something is wrong, take a step back,’ but she was in love.”

Sonia said that Lamba controlled Harshita’s bank accounts and withheld her salary from her.

When she became a victim of his violence, Sonia says Lamba took all her money from her bank account after she reported it to police. The bank opened a fraud case against him.

Sonia tried to persuade her sister that she was being treated badly but she could not get through to her.

In summer last year, Lamba beat Harshita at their first-floor flat in Sturton Walk. She managed to escape and knocked on the door of her downstairs neighbours, who were also Indian, who helped her.

"They helped her that time,” said Sonia. “Otherwise I believe she would have been killed on that day.”

Then Lamba allegedly attacked Harshita in the street and tried to rip her identity documents from her hand. As she ran away he screamed at her and a local person interrupted him. Thankfully she managed to get away to an older friend who took her home with her for a couple of days, before police placed her in a refuge.

Harshita then found out she was pregnant but quickly lost the baby.

Police applied for a domestic violence protection order two months before her death, but it expired 28 days later.

Sonia said that Harshita was being pressured by Lamba’s family to withdraw her complaint but was not told by British police that they could continue the case against Lamba without her involvement.

“The police never came to meet Harshita. When she called she was told the officer was on holiday.

After she was placed in the refuge Harshita continued to cook for Lamba but didn’t move back in with him. But she ended up living only a few hundred metres away in Skegness Walk.

"She didn’t have any other option,” she said.

"The police would not help her anymore.”

Sonia believes that Harshita was on the night of November 10. Officers were called by Harshita’s family on November 13 after they hadn’t heard from her for three days.

On November 15 our reporters went to the scene after being contacted by concerned neighbours but Northamptonshire Police did not wish to comment and asked reporters to hold off their reports to allow their enquiries to take place.

But the day before, on November 14, police had already discovered a vehicle with Harshita’s body inside the boot.

Sonia believes her sister was killed outside of the house because nobody heard anything from the flat below. Police later released footage of Harshita and Lamba walking at Corby boating lake on the evening November 10, shortly before they believe she may have been killed.

Sonia said that British police contacted Delhi police by email on November 15 and the family was told that Harshita had died.

She says contact with the British police has been sparse since then.

“They always said, the investigation is going on, we can't share anything.

"We ask anything, they say we don't know.”

Sonia says that lots of people have given the family information about prime suspect Lamba’s whereabouts and they are essentially now investigating him themselves.

She says her father has had to use his own sources to get information about the investigation.

The family have managed to find out that Lamba is still in India and believe he is in the north of the country.

“The reality is he is three steps away from our investigation team. That’s why they are not able to trace him.”

She says family members are believed to be helping him to evade justice, and that an uncle who is a police officer is giving him information. He was able to go into a bank and withdraw money over the counter in March.

"It’s shameful for the Indian agencies,” said Sonia.

She said that Delhi police were ‘doing nothing’.

Since the tragic events of November 10 last year, Sonia says her mum and dad are struggling.

“My mama always feels very sad and low. She doesn’t understand why he killed her. She did everything for him. We are only two sisters and now I’m alone.

"Papa is very angry.”

But Sonia is expecting a baby any day and hopes that it will be a little girl.

“It’s due very near Harshita’s anniversary so I just feel she has come back. It’s the definition of true love.”

Through the Northants Telegraph directly addressed Lamba,

“She was a girl, just a baby.

"So you love your life. That's why you are hiding.

"Harshita also loved her life.

"One day justice will serve us. I know it. I will continue this fight till my last breath.”

Our reporter asked for an interview with the investigating officer in Harshita’s case but was told that the force was not doing interviews. The force sent a statement in response to a series of questions about the progress of the investigation.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Johnny Campbell, said: "As we remember Harshita Brella on the first anniversary of her death, our thoughts very much remain with her family and all who loved her.

"Northamptonshire Police has provided family liaison support to Harshita’s family throughout the past year and in July, I was privileged to travel to India to meet with family members and return the personal belongings of their much loved and much missed daughter and sister.

"Twelve months ago, on November 14, 2024, a murder investigation was launched after 24-year-old Harshita was found dead in a vehicle in the Ilford area of London after being reported missing from her home in Corby, Northamptonshire. In March 2025, the Crown Prosecution Service decided that 24-year-old Pankaj Lamba, Harshita’s husband, should be charged with murder in relation to her death.

"This is an exceptionally complex case and with criminal proceedings now active in the UK, we are unable to go into detail about the investigation at this time. However, we can confirm that the Indian authorities have been made aware through the appropriate channels of the charging decision.

"The investigation is very much ongoing and we remain as determined as ever to bring the person responsible for Harshita's death to justice.

"Once again, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to Harshita's family, and we will continue to offer support as the investigation and our work to secure justice for Harshita and her family continues."