"there were raised voices and the woman sounded scared."
A neighbour said she heard an aggressive argument between a man and a woman in Harshita Brella’s house a day before her body was found in the boot of a car.
Single mother Kelly Philp, who lives next door to Harshita, said a woman sounded scared during the row.
She said her bedroom shares a wall with a room in Harshita’s house.
Kelly said: “I heard a commotion between a man and a woman and I heard banging around.
“They were arguing in a different language so I couldn’t understand what was being said.
“But it sounded angry and there were raised voices and the woman sounded scared.
“I had a funeral to attend the day after and had my own daughter to look after so I didn’t call police – I just thought it was a relationship argument.”
In the early hours of November 16, 2024, she heard a back gate slam loudly and two men arguing in a foreign language.
She told The Mirror: “My initial feeling when I saw police was that someone must have been hurt as I already had my suspicions.
“I feel really on edge now and vulnerable. I feel so sad about the loss of the lass. I can’t get over it, I can’t believe it.”
Recently, the home had been occupied by around five people, believed to be Eastern European.
According to Kelly, Harshita lived there for around a year. In 2023, up to 12 people were living there.
Police said Harshita Brella may have been the victim of a “targeted incident” and have launched a murder investigation.
“Fast track” enquiries were made after police were contacted on November 13 with concerns about the 24-year-old’s welfare.
Officers went to her home in Corby but after getting no answer, they launched a missing person investigation.
Harshita’s body was found a day later in the boot of a car nearly 100 miles away in Ilford.
A postmortem confirmed Harshita Brella had been murdered.
Harshita was previously a domestic violence victim and in early September, she was made subject of a Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) at Northampton Magistrates’ Court.
The order, which only lasted 28 days, banned her abuser from visiting her workplace.
The person was prevented from molesting her, threatening violence, or intimidating, harassing or pestering her, and also told not to encourage or instruct others to contact her in any way.
No formal charges against the same person have since been recorded by the court and they were released following the court hearing but ordered to pay the full costs.
Northamptonshire Police has self-referred to the IOPC after what they described as “previous contact” with Harshita.
After saying it was likely she was murdered by someone “known to her”, an international manhunt is underway for Harshita’s husband Pankaj Lamba.
Chief Inspector Paul Cash, of Northamptonshire Police, said:
“Inquiries lead us to suspect that Harshita was murdered in Northamptonshire earlier this month by her husband Pankaj Lamba.
“We suspect Lamba transported Harshita’s body from Northamptonshire to Ilford by car. We believe he has now fled the country.”
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