Missing bride accused of killing husband on honeymoon surrenders to cops
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A bride in India has been arrested after her new husband was found dead during their honeymoon.
Sonam Raghuvanshi, 25, surrendered at a police station in Ghazipur, India, on Monday, the BBC reported.
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Authorities allege the woman hired people to kill her husband, 30-year-old Raja Raghuvansh, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, according to the outlet.
The couple were married on May 11, in a ceremony in Indore that was blessed by both families, the BBC reported.
They set off for their honeymoon in Meghalaya on May 20, but the newlyweds vanished four days after they arrived.
Raja’s body was found in a gorge with his throat slit and his wallet, a gold ring, and a chain missing more than a week later, the outlet noted.
With Sonam still missing, her family accused police of not doing enough to find the woman or her husband’s killers, and on Friday, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding justice.
However, Sonam surrendered two days later.
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Three other suspects from Madhya Pradesh, the couple’s home state, were arrested in overnight raids, the BBC reported, citing director general of Meghalaya police Idashisha Nongrang.
“One person was picked up from Uttar Pradesh and another two accused were apprehended from Indore,” Nongrang said, according to the outlet.
“Sonam surrendered at the Nandganj police station and was subsequently arrested.”
Another suspect remains outstanding, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma added in a post on X amid the ongoing investigation.
Cops have alleged the men arrested were paid to murder him at Sonam’s request, and while no alleged motive has been revealed, the bride was described as “the main suspect,” with police suspecting she was having an affair.
Sonam’s father, Devi Singh, defended his daughter saying “she is innocent and she cannot do this.”
The devoted dad said that while he did not speak to his daughter, he believes that she had “somehow managed to escape her captors.”
Singh also accused the Meghalaya police of “making up stories” and told the Hindustan Times that he is “100% sure that Meghalaya Police is involved” in Raja’s murder.
Sangma commended his state’s police force, saying that they had achieved a “major breakthrough” in seven days.
Another minister, Alexander Laloo Hek, pointed out how the state’s police, government and even ordinary people had been unfairly blamed while the search was going on.
“The truth has come out.”
Raja’s brother Vipin Raghuvanshi initially told reporters he would “not accept Sonam’s involvement in the murder until she confessed.”
However, he later said one of the arrested men identified by police worked in the woman’s office.
“Only Sonam can clarify,” the victim’s brother said. “If she’s guilty, she should be punished.”
He added: “I now believe that Meghalaya government was not lying. They were telling the truth.”
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