An unwanted selfie photo of Sonam Raghuvanshi and alleged lover Raj Kushwaha has surfaced online, showing the two appearing very happy together and smiling, suggesting their relationship was more than just friendly. Until now, Raj’s friends and acquaintances had claimed that Raj used to address Sonam as ‘Didi’. According to police reports, the photo was taken before the murder. A joint investigation by the Meghalaya Police and the Indore Crime Branch has revealed that Sonam and Raj had been spending time together in a rented flat in Indore days before the murder.
During the investigation, Meghalaya Police took a significant step by bringing the main accused, Sonam Raghuvanshi, and her boyfriend, Raj Kushwaha, face to face. Upon being shown concrete evidence—including CCTV footage of Sonam meeting with killers of Raja Raghuvanshi after the murder and a photograph of her bloodstained shirt found at the crime scene—Sonam broke down and confessed her involvement in the murder before the SIT.
Also Read | Honeymoon murder case: Raj was at home, never went anywhere, says sister.
Later, Sonam Raghuvanshi’s brother, Govind Raghuvanshi, visited Raj’s house in Indore. Speaking to the media, Govind demanded capital punishment for the killer and claimed he was unaware of any conspiracy involving his sister. “Had we known, we wouldn’t have allowed this to happen,” he said. He mentioned briefly meeting Sonam in Ghazipur, during which she made no mention of the crime.
Govind also denied any romantic involvement between Sonam and Raj Kushwaha, claiming that Raj was merely an employee and that Sonam used to tie a rakhi to him. “Even our mother didn’t know anything about their alleged relationship,” he added. He further clarified that Sonam’s marriage was held early as per the auspicious date decided by the priests.
After their wedding on May 11 in Indore, Raja and Sonam travelled to the northeastern state for honeymoon. They disappeared on May 23, hours after checking out of a homestay at Nongriat village, 20 km from where Raja’s body was found on June 2.
Raja was killed by three men allegedly hired by Sonam, who went ‘missing’. She surfaced in UP’s Ghazipur on Sunday night where she surrendered at the Nandganj police station after Akash Rajput (19), Vishal Singh Chauhan (22), and Anand Kurmi were arrested from UP and Indore and Sagar towns. Raj Singh Kushwaha (21), the alleged conspirator, was arrested later.
Govind Raghuvanshi, brother of Sonam Raghuvanshi, said, "...I got to know everything through the media, and now it’s clear to me that this happened because there was some king of support from the other side"