Sanskriti Sanghi

Southall Black Sisters organises vigil to commemorate Harshita Brella

Southall Black Sisters organises a vigil to pay tribute to Harshita Brella and demand urgent reforms for Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors

On Friday, 24th January 2025, Southall Black Sisters (SBS) organised a vigil on Brisbane Road in Ilford, London to honour Harshita Brella’s life and to wish her rest and peace in death.

Harshita, a migrant victim of domestic abuse, is believed to have been killed by her husband. Her body was found on Brisbane Road in Ilford in East London late last year, miles away from her home in Corby, Northamptonshire. She was known to local statutory authorities as a ‘high risk’ victim of domestic abuse. However, she was let down by the response she received, which demonstrated a lack of understanding of her specialised needs and a failure to provide her with holistic, wraparound support.

Harshita’s tragic loss, as that of countless victims before her, reflects the scourge of domestic abuse and underscores a pattern of statutory failures towards Black, minoritised and migrant women. Through the vigil, SBS intended to raise public awareness about the structural barriers migrant victims like Harshita encounter and mobilise support for justice for Harshita.

Harshita’s family, who are in India, have been calling for accountability for her loss. Their call to justice is bolstered by SBS’ support, who are in contact with them and are endeavouring to assist them as best they can. Ahead of the vigil, Harshita’s family shared a short statement for SBS to read out at the vigil:

We gather here tonight not only to honour the life of my sister, Harshita, but also to demand justice for her. Her life was taken from us too soon, and while nothing can bring her back, we cannot allow her story to go unheard. Delayed justice is denied justice, and we stand here to ensure her voice echoes until the justice she deserves is delivered.” – Sonia and Tarun

Speaking to the systemic inequalities migrant victims like Harshita are subjected to, Selma Taha, Executive Director of SBS, added:

Let our gathering here today to commemorate Harshita add momentum to the call for the government to recognise the ‘dual perpetration’ migrant victim-survivors are unjustly subjected to and hold both perpetrators and its own structures accountable. To demonstrate that lessons have been learned from Harshita’s death, as well as from those of other victims before her, the government must commit to equal rights and outcomes for migrant women. Failure to do so will exclude some of the most marginalised, with the least state protections, from the government’s goal to halving VAWG and will signal the dispensability of migrant victims. It will also embolden perpetrators, allowing them to believe their actions go unpunished. We must urge the government to reject these notions by adopting a rights-based approach to safeguarding for all victim-survivors, regardless of their immigration status.”

Selma concluded by calling on the government to urgently extend the combined model of status and support via the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) and Domestic Violence Indefinite Leave to Remain (DVILR) rule to all victim-survivors regardless of immigration status and to introduce a firewall to prevent data-sharing between the police, other statutory agencies, and Immigration Enforcement (IE) to encourage migrant victim-survivors to come forward and report abuse.

Speaking on behalf of Bekhal Mahmod, the bereaved sister of Banaz Mahmod, who was brutally murdered in a so-called ‘honour killing’ by her father, uncle, and male cousins in 2006, and on behalf of Nour Norris, the bereaved aunt and sister of Raneem Oudeh and Khaola Saleem, who were tragically killed in 2018 by Raneem’s abusive ex-partner in another so-called ‘honour killing’, Hannana Siddiqui, Head of Policy, Campaigns and Research at SBS read their messages of support for Harshita’s family in their ongoing pursuit of justice:

Harshita was also a migrant woman, who had few rights and may have found it difficult to leave abuse because of the government’s immigration laws. These laws must change so that no woman is entrapped.  I want our communities and the government to condemn and act against violence against women and girls. Such changes will mean that Harshita’s death and that of Banaz, and those of many others, would not have been in vain.” – Bekhal Mahmod

As a minoritised woman, Harshita faced even more significant challenges navigating a system that doesn’t fully understand the cultural nuances and barriers many of us face. Women like Harshita and Raneem are often left feeling isolated, judged, and unsupported, their voices unheard even when they are crying out for help. This failure to act is a stain on our system, and a betrayal of the trust victims place in it.” – Nour Norris

The vigil, attended by over 40 activists and community members, was a powerful show of solidarity. Vigil-goers paid tribute to Harshita through offerings of flowers and candles. Many came forward to express their sorrow and outrage at her devastating loss that could have been prevented if the UK treated violence against women and girls with the seriousness it merits.

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