The monsoon had not yet arrived in Meghalaya, but the sky already carried its weight — a low, pewter heaviness that pressed against the hills. On the morning of May 23, 2025, newlyweds Raja and Sonam Raghuwanshi left their homestay in Nongriat with a rented scooter, telling the staff they were heading toward the living root bridges. They had been married for only twelve days.
By evening, the couple had vanished.
What unfolded over the next two weeks — a body in a gorge, a missing wife reappearing 1,200 kilometers away, and a conspiracy that investigators say began before the wedding — would grip India with the force of a thriller.
Raja Raghuvanshi, 29, was a businessman from Indore. Sonam, 24, was the daughter of a respected local family. Their wedding had been traditional, festive, and — according to both families — arranged with optimism.
But investigators would later say that Sonam had been living a double life.
According to Indore’s Additional Deputy Police Commissioner Rajesh Dandotiya, Sonam had been in a relationship with Raj Kushwaha, a 20‑year‑old employee at her brother’s tile distribution company. Police allege that the two planned Raja’s murder on May 18, just seven days after the wedding.
Kushwaha, they say, hired three young men — Vishal Chauhan, Anand Kumar, and Akash Rajput — to carry out the killing.
On May 23, instead of taking the well‑known Tyrna route toward the double‑decker root bridges, Sonam led Raja onto the Mawlingkhiyiat trail, a steep, isolated path that few tourists use. Investigators believe this was intentional — a way to keep the couple away from crowds and closer to the men lying in wait.
The killers — Akash, Anand, and Vikash (also reported as Vishal in some accounts) — joined them along the trail. Police say Sonam had been sharing her live location with Kushwaha, who coordinated the attack remotely from Indore.
According to Firstpost’s reporting, Sonam allegedly told Raja she wanted to take photos in a secluded spot. It was there, investigators say, that she directed the men to strike.
What happened next is reconstructed from police statements and forensic evidence:
Raja was attacked with a sharp weapon.
He suffered fatal head injuries.
His body was pushed into a gorge near Wei Sawdong Falls, a three‑tiered waterfall known for its beauty — and its deadly drop.
His body would not be found for ten days.
After the killing, police say Sonam did not panic. Instead, she allegedly helped dispose of Raja’s belongings, left the trail, and began a carefully planned escape route.
According to Firstpost, she even posted a misleading message from Raja’s phone to create the illusion that he was still alive.
Then she disappeared.
While Meghalaya police searched the forests, rivers, and ravines of Sohra, Sonam was traveling across states. Her trail ended in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, where she surrendered at a police station in the early hours of June 8.
Her reappearance — alive, uninjured, and far from the crime scene — shocked investigators and Raja’s family.
On June 2, search teams recovered Raja’s decomposed body from a gorge below Wei Sawdong Falls. The post‑mortem revealed sharp‑force injuries to the head, confirming homicide.
Near the site, investigators found:
A woman’s white shirt
A medicine strip
A damaged phone screen
A smartwatch
These items helped reconstruct the couple’s final movements and supported the theory of a planned ambush.
Once Sonam surrendered, the investigation accelerated.
Police arrested:
Raj Kushwaha, the alleged mastermind
Vishal Chauhan
Anand Kumar
Akash Rajput
All were placed in transit custody and transported to Meghalaya for interrogation.
Call records, police say, showed frequent communication between Sonam and Kushwaha before and during the honeymoon. Location data allegedly placed the hired killers near the couple on May 23.
According to The Indian Express, Sonam allegedly intended to pass off Raja’s murder as a robbery gone wrong, live as a widow for a period, and then convince her family to let her marry Kushwaha.
Kushwaha, meanwhile, was reportedly seen at Sonam’s family home during the search for the missing couple — and even present during Raja’s last rites.
The proximity raised suspicions among Raja’s relatives, who later accused Sonam of deception and manipulation.
By late 2025, Meghalaya police had filed a chargesheet naming Sonam the primary accused. Her bail pleas were rejected multiple times.
Raja’s family publicly demanded the harshest possible punishment.
The case became a national obsession — not just because of the brutality, but because of the contradictions:
A bride who vanished and reappeared.
A lover who allegedly orchestrated a murder from hundreds of miles away.
A honeymoon turned crime scene.
A remote landscape that hid a body for days.
A digital trail — calls, locations, messages — that prosecutors say reveals premeditation.
It was a story of romance, betrayal, geography, and technology colliding in the most devastating way.
The Mawlingkhiyiat trail is quiet again. The monsoon has come and gone. Tourists still trek to the living root bridges, unaware of the path where a young man took his last steps.
But for Raja’s family, and for a country that followed every twist, the case remains a haunting reminder of how quickly a life can be rewritten — and how a honeymoon meant to celebrate a beginning became the setting for an end.
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