London, Dec 22 (PTI) The India-based family of on-the-run Pankaj Lamba, wanted for the murder of his 24-year-old wife Harshita Brella in the UK, have expressed their shock and distress over the killing as the couple seemed happy together.

In an interview with ‘The Sunday Times' in Dharouli village near Delhi, Lamba's mother Sunil described her son as a “good boy” and 24-year-old Brella as an “ideal” daughter-in-law.

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Lamba, 23, remains a wanted man in the UK after he is believed to have fled to India following the murder of his wife at her home in Corby, Northamptonshire, before her body was driven to London, where it was discovered in the boot of a car by police last month.

“I don't think my son, my only son, could ever have hurt her,” Sunil was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

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“He's a good boy and they were happy together. They only argued once, he told me on the phone, but they made up the next day. They did things together, they went out together. They were happy. That's what we saw,” she said.

The couple came together as a result of an arranged marriage earlier this year and moved to Corby where they worked various jobs to save up money.

Brella's family have previously spoken of the domestic violence she faced, with the police confirming that the victim had been the subject of a domestic abuse order, which imposes restrictions on the accused against approaching or threatening the victim. A post-mortem has given Brella's cause of death as strangulation.

Asked by the newspaper if she thought her son could have murdered Brella, a weeping Sunil responded: “What can I say? How do I know what happened that day? All I know is that life is over for us. We are broken, utterly. I pray that God will take us because there is no point living any more with this agony over Harshita's end and not knowing where my son is.”

She claims the family had not heard from Lamba since November 10, which Northamptonshire Police note as the date of Harshita Brella's murder when he called to say his wife had made pakoras which they were going to eat.

“He liked Harshita. So did we. She was the ideal daughter-in-law for us: pretty, intelligent, kind and good-hearted. It is agonising for me to think of what her parents are going through. It is unbearable,” said his mother.

The family and neighbours of the accused paint a picture of an “ordinary boy” who did well in his studies. Brella's grieving family told the newspaper that no one from Lamba's family has visited them as they observe the customary mourning period following her last rites. Her sister, Sonia Dabas, is convinced her brother-in-law is in India as the family awaits justice.

“The obvious place to flee is India,” she said.

Detective Chief Inspector Johnny Campbell of the East Midlands Special Operations Major Crime Unit said his team is “working closely with policing colleagues and our partners in the Crown Prosecution Service in order to secure justice for Harshita”.

“There are certain aspects of this investigation we are unable to comment on,” he said.

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