'He Was Seen At Funeral': Murdered Man's Mother On His Wife's Alleged Lover

She got her son married last month in Madhya Pradesh, and he left for his honeymoon in Meghalaya just days later, but never returned home. His wife, who was missing for days, surfaced in Uttar Pradesh last night and is the prime suspect in his murder.

The reality, which is worse than a nightmare, hit Uma Raghuvanshi, who lost her son Raja Raghuvanshi just days after his wedding. His wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, is now in the transit custody of the Meghalaya Police.

"Raja was very happy with her. He never mentioned that he had any issues with her," she insisted.

She only had one question for her daughter-in-law: "Why didn't you save him?"

"I want to ask Sonam, that Raja went with you, then why did you leave him in that condition? What happened to him? Who did this to him? You must have seen someone. Why didn't you save him?"

Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam Raghuvanshi left for Meghalaya on their honeymoon on May 20, nine days after their May 11 wedding in Indore. On May 23, they went missing hours after they checked out of a homestay in Nongriat village. He was found dead 20 km from the village on June 2, while his wife was untraceable, which led to a multi-state hunt for her.

His body was found near Weisawdong Falls in the East Khasi Hills district.

In a chilling twist to the murder mystery, a visibly exhausted Sonam Raghuvanshi arrived at a roadside dhaba in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur late Sunday night. She borrowed a phone and called her family, breaking down as she spoke. Moments later, her brother contacted the police, leading to her surrender.

Ms Raghuvanshi, who avoided blaming her daughter-in-law for the murder, also sought a CBI probe in the case. "If Sonam is guilty, she should be hanged; if not, the real culprits should be punished," she said.

She also claimed that some people saw Raj Kushwaha, whom police claim Sonam Raghuvanshi had an affair with and who allegedly co-conspired with her in the murder, at the funeral of her son Raja. "Some people claimed that this Raj was seen with Sonam's father during Raja's funeral," she claimed.

She, however, added that she has never seen or heard about Kushwaha before his name cropped up in the case.

Raj Kushwaha and Vishal Chauhan were caught in Indore, while Akash Rajput was apprehended nearby. Anand Kurmi was tracked down in Basari village in Bina, and Akash Lodhi was detained in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh, between Saturday and Sunday in connection with the killing.

Ms Raghuvanshi said that she never thought that Sonam could do such a thing. "I have known her for four months, and in these four months, I never got the sense that Sonam could do anything like this. After their wedding, she was here at home for four days, even then, we didn't think she was capable of doing something like this.

She also said that they went ahead with the wedding after both Sonam and Raj Raghuvanshi agreed to it.

"It was an arranged marriage. Both of them were asked if they were okay with the wedding. We went ahead after they agreed to it," she said.

Raja Raghuvanshi's mother said that when he left for Meghalaya, wearing his gold chain, she was a bit apprehensive. "I was afraid that he might get into trouble because of the chain." She, however, also added that she didn't think Sonam had asked him to wear the gold chain because she wanted to rob him.

On the jewellery her daughter-in-law was carrying, she said, "All of her gold jewellery is at her home. She only had her mangalsutra, a diamond bracelet and a ring or two with her."

The Meghalaya Police has claimed that Sonam Raghuvanshi had planned her husband's murder, hiring professional killers to carry it out.

"The first person arrested was Rajput from Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. The second was Chauhan from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The third was Kushwaha, also from Indore," East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem said at a press conference in Shillong on Monday.