BEREAVED families of black, minoritised and migrant women killed by men gathered outside Downing Street for a vigil demanding urgent action and accountability today.

Organised by Southall Black Sisters (SBS), it followed the release of a damning report that exposed serious failings in how police handled domestic abuse complaints made by a woman later found dead in a car boot.

Harshita Brella, 24, reported abuse at the hands of her husband, Pankaj Lamba, to Northamptonshire Police.

Although he was arrested and released on bail with conditions barring contact with his wife, and given a domestic violence protection order, multiple safeguarding opportunities were missed.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct found that officers failed to appropriately review the case, set investigative actions, seek supervisory advice, or keep Ms Brella updated.

She was found dead in November and her husband, now charged with her murder, is believed to have fled to India. Four officers now face misconduct proceedings.

A statement was read out at the vigil on behalf of Harshita’s sister, Sonia Dabas.

“We know Harshita used to call and no-one would pick up. And if they did, they would say the officer she asked for was on leave”.

“They told her they would come to meet her, and they never did. She even took leave from work. She was severely ignored.

“Now they are making these announcements and framing them as if a mistake was made, but they are not accepting that true accountability requires giving this case priority and setting an example to prevent another abuser like Pankaj Lamba.”

SBS is pushing for key amendments to the Crime and Policing and Victims and Courts Bills.

Campaigners want so-called honour-based abuse to count as an aggravating factor when judges decide sentences, supported by multi-agency statutory guidance, in an amendment called “Banaz’s Law,” after a woman who was murdered in an honour killing in 2006.

Her sister, Bekhal Mahmod, said that even though Banaz reported rape, abuse, attempts and threats to kill five times before her death, she was never taken seriously.

“This law is vital to ensure black, minority and migrant victims can trust the criminal justice system, that agencies and courts respond effectively, perpetrators are held accountable and communities recognise the need for change”.

Another proposal is to treat encouraging or helping someone to self-harm as an aggravating factor if it follows domestic or honour-based abuse. If the victim dies by suicide, courts could give a sentence similar to one for murder.

SBS is also campaigning for equal access to support, regardless of immigration status.

A statement from Onjali Rauf was read out at the vigil, paying tribute to her aunt, Mumtahina Ruma Jannat, who was murdered by her husband.

She warned authorities about his behaviour for five years, “only for each of the — largely white men in uniforms and judges’ robes — to dismiss, belittle, and even mock her in the very courts and police stations she went to for help,” Ms Rauf said.

“In her very last court hearing, where a judge called her a ‘silly woman’ for daring to express her fears for herself and her two little girls, she left the courtroom in tears, telling us: “To them I’m just a silly brown woman in a scarf. So I give up. And now, because of them, he’s going to kill me.”

Ms Rauf issued a message 14 years on from the murder: “To every police officer, lawyer and judge whose actions and inactions have led to women’s lives being taken from them by often known-of violent men: your time is up.”

The government was contacted for comment.