In a shocking case from India, police have taken a woman named Sonam Raghuvanshi into custody after she turned herself in. This follows the brutal murder of her husband, Raja, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, a small state in northeastern India. Sonam, who is 25 years old, had been missing since the incident, leading her family and Raja’s family to believe she might have been kidnapped or killed.
They launched a large campaign to find her, putting pressure on the authorities to act quickly. However, the police now claim that Sonam hired four men to kill her 30-year-old husband, and all four suspects have also been arrested. This unexpected twist has left both families and the public stunned, as the couple appeared happy and had no reported issues before the tragic event.
The couple, from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, had married on May 11 in a joyful ceremony attended by both families. According to Raja’s brother, Vipin Raghuvanshi, the marriage was arranged four months earlier, and the couple seemed content with no signs of conflict.
They chose Meghalaya for their honeymoon because of its beautiful valleys, as Raja’s other brother, Sachin, told the BBC. The couple set off for their trip on May 20, excited to explore the scenic region. However, just four days into their honeymoon, both Sonam and Raja went missing, sparking immediate concern among their families and prompting a large-scale search effort by police, disaster relief teams, and local residents.
The search was challenging due to heavy rain and poor visibility in Meghalaya’s misty valleys. Rescuers were seen rappelling down cliffs and hills in an effort to locate the couple. A week later, authorities found Raja’s body in a gorge, his throat slit and his wallet, gold ring, and chain missing. Sonam, however, was nowhere to be found, which deepened the mystery and fueled fears that she had been abducted or harmed.
The families of both Sonam and Raja grew frustrated with the Meghalaya police, accusing them of not doing enough to solve the murder or find Sonam. They demanded that the case be handed over to federal authorities for a more thorough investigation and even wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pleading for justice for Raja and answers about Sonam’s whereabouts.
The case took a dramatic turn on Monday when Sonam surrendered at a police station in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. According to Meghalaya’s Director General of Police, Idashisha Nongrang, three other suspects from Madhya Pradesh were arrested in overnight raids—one from Uttar Pradesh and two from Indore. A fourth man was later arrested in Meghalaya.
Police now consider Sonam the main suspect, alleging she orchestrated her husband’s murder. While no clear motive has been confirmed, Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem hinted at a possible extramarital relationship between Sonam and one of the arrested men, though he stressed that further questioning is needed to confirm this. The arrests and Sonam’s surrender have shifted the narrative of the case, raising questions about what really happened during the couple’s honeymoon.
Sonam’s father, Devi Singh, strongly defends his daughter, insisting she is innocent and incapable of such a crime. He claims Sonam escaped from captors and reached a roadside eatery in Ghazipur, where she borrowed a phone to contact her brother, who then alerted the police. Singh accuses the Meghalaya police of fabricating stories and has called for a federal investigation to uncover the truth.
Meanwhile, Raja’s brother Vipin initially refused to believe Sonam was involved, saying he would only accept her guilt if she confessed. However, he later noted that one of the arrested men worked at Sonam’s office, adding to the complexity of the case. Vipin also acknowledged that the Meghalaya police might have been truthful in their efforts, reversing his earlier criticisms of their handling of the investigation.
Meghalaya’s Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma, praised the police for achieving a “major breakthrough” in just seven days. Another minister, Alexander Laloo Hek, defended the state’s efforts, saying the police, government, and local people had been unfairly criticized during the search. With Sonam and the four suspects now in custody, the case is moving forward, but many questions remain unanswered. The families, still grappling with grief and confusion, await further details as the investigation continues to unravel the truth behind Raja’s tragic death and Sonam’s alleged role in it.