Meghalaya honeymoon murder: Sonam’s brother says if he knew about relationship with Raj, ‘I would have...’
Indore businessman Raja Raghuvanshi's family performed his ‘pind daan’ ritual. His brother Vipin confirmed that Sonam's brother Govind had contacted the family to be part of the ceremony.
Govind, Sonam's brother, said he was unaware that his sister had a relationship with her ‘boyfriend’ Raj Kushwaha before she got married. He added that had he known, he “would have gotten them married or let her run away with Raj”. Sonam is accused of hiring men to kill her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi.
“Had I known, I would have gotten them married or I would have let her run away with Raj Kushwaha,” Govind said, according to Live Hindustan.
Give Sonam ‘death penalty’
Govind, while standing with Raja’s family during his pind daan in Ujjain on Friday, expressed that he still sees them as his own. “I have come with Raja’s family to perform his last rites… they are like my brother’s family. If she (Sonam) is found guilty, she should be given the death penalty," he mentioned a few days ago.
Calling her sister “stubborn and short-tempered", he said, “There was never any pressure from our side. If she didn’t want to marry, she could have said so. What she did is unforgivable. She hasn’t just shamed Indore, but the entire state of Madhya Pradesh.”
Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi case
Raja and Sonam were married on May 11. They travelled to Shillong ten days later, where Raja was allegedly murdered.
Raja’s body was found on June 2 in a gorge near Weisawdong Falls. Sonam was believed to be “missing” until she reappeared at a roadside eatery in Ghazipur on June 9 and turned herself in to the police.
Meghalaya Police have arrested Sonam, her lover Raj, and his associates for their suspected role in a premeditated conspiracy to kill Raja.
The final ritual pind daan (an offering of food items such as rice, barley, flour, and sesame seeds to pray for the souls of the departed) for Raja Raghuvanshi was completed by his family on Friday. Raja’s brother Vipin confirmed that Govind had contacted the family to be part of the ceremony, saying, “We told him he could come. It was his sister’s mistake, after all."
According to authorities, Sonam’s past relationship with Raj was a crucial factor in the murder plot, and he is believed to be the mastermind in the case. As part of “Operation Honeymoon”, the SIT has gathered crucial evidence from both Indore and Ghazipur to piece together the sequence of events that led to the discovery of Raja's body in the Sohra region of Meghalaya.