- Raja Raghuvanshi was allegedly murdered by his wife, Sonam, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya.
- His decomposing body was found in a gorge, prompting a massive search and subsequent investigation.
- Sonam surrendered in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, after being implicated in the murder plot.
Raja Raghuvanshi's murder has left his family grieving and the entire nation in shock, with case details being too disturbing to believe. Raja was allegedly killed by his wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, on their honeymoon trip to Meghalaya. The case resembles Bengaluru's "Ring Road Murder" case that happened more than two decades ago when a bride-to-be killed her husband brutally.
2003 Ring Road Murder case in Bengaluru
In 2003, Shubha Shankaranarayan, a 21-year-old law student, got engaged to 27-year-old software engineer BV Girish, who was reportedly earning Rs 1 lakh per month at that time. Girish was a well-behaved and simple man who seemed happy after the engagement ceremony. The wedding was set for the next year. Shubha also belonged to an affluent family as her father was a well-known lawyer.
Just three days after their engagement on November 30, Girish was killed. It was a well-planned plot by Shubha.
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Shubha asked him to take her to a restaurant for dinner to understand each other better. While returning, she told Girish that she wanted to see the airplanes taking off and landing near the HAL airport. When they reached there, a group of men attacked Girish and beat him up, with Shubha screaming for help - an act to show herself innocent.
Girish was admitted to the hospital after receiving severe head injuries. The next day, he was declared dead.
Girish's family filed a police complaint, but there was no concrete evidence. The police remained clueless for days as the victim had no enemies or conflicts. The police then decided to re-watch engagement ceremony videos in which they found Shubha dull, upset and uninterested.
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The police treated it as a clue and started reviewing statements given by Shubha. The police investigation revealed that Subha's story didn't add up, and further scrutiny showed she had made 73 calls and sent numerous messages to her college junior, Arun Verma, on the day of Girish's death. This raised suspicions about Subha's involvement.
The police enquired about Arun, who initially said he was out of town, and checked his phone's location, which was exactly the same as where Girish was murdered.
This was also one of the initial cases in which phone location and call records were submitted to the Court as digital evidence.
The police grilled both of them during interrogation and finally confessed that they had murdered Girish because Shuba was in love with Arun, and her father didn't approve of the relationship.
Shubha and Arun hired two people to kill Girish. All four were sentenced to life imprisonment, with Shubha also convicted of destruction of evidence. The Supreme Court granted her bail in 2014.
What hapened in Meghalaya?
Raja and Sonam went on a honeymoon trip but went missing after a few days. The families informed the police, and a massive search operation was launched, which turned into a murder mystery after the recovery of Raja's decomposing body in a gorge near a waterfall in the Sohra area of the East Khasi Hills district.
A few days later, Sonam surrendered in Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh, but the police said they already knew about Sonam's involvement in the case. Sonam has been accused of murdering her husband by allegedly hiring killers. The exact motive is still not clear, with some sources claiming it was because of a love affair with a man named Raj Kushwaha, who was also arrested along with Sonam and other alleged conspirators.
The police are currently investigating all possible angles of the case.
