Honeymoon murder: Slain businessman's father demands death sentence for all culprits
Days after Raja's body was found in a gorge in Sohra, Meghalaya, Sonam surrendered before the police in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh late on Sunday night, while four accused, including suspected conspirator Raja Kushwah, were arrested from different areas of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
"My son died in agony. All the culprits should be hanged to set an example, so that no family loses its son to such crime in future," Raghuvanshi's father Ashok Raghuvanshi told PTI.
Overwhelmed by the tragedy and sordid details emerging during the investigation, the Raghuvanshi senior expressed disbelief over his newly-wed son returning the family's Indore home in a coffin.
"My son's body was mutilated. My family members didn't allow me to have the last glimpse as they were concerned over my heart ailment", he said, struggling to maintain his composure.
Raghuvanshi also claimed that Sonam got her husband murdered to remove the 'Mangal Dosh' in her horoscope so that she could later marry her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha, who worked in the furniture sheet business of Sonam's family in Indore.
Dismissing this claim, local astrologer Dheeraj Dixit said "mangal dosh" cannot be removed by the death of one's spouse.
Initially, the family of Raja Raghuvanshi had accused the Meghalaya Police of negligence in expediting the investigations. However, the tone of this family has changed after new details emerged.
Police arrested Akash Rajput from Uttar Pradesh, and Vishal Singh Chauhan , Raj Singh Kushwaha , the alleged conspirator, and Anand Kurmi from Indore and Sagar.
Raja's elder brother Vipin Raghuvanshi said he wanted to apologise for giving statements against the Meghalaya government.
"We did not know that Meghalaya Police were conducting a secret operation to nab Raja's killers. We had no intention of defaming the Meghalaya government. We are also grateful to the Madhya Pradesh government for supporting us in difficult times," he added.
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's relatives identified the body through a distinctive tattoo on his right hand. A woman's white shirt, a strip of medicine, a part of the LCD screen of a mobile phone, and a smartwatch were also seized at the spot, police had said.
Police also recovered a bloodstained machete , which they believe was used in Raja's murder.
A raincoat also believed to belong to the couple, was recovered from Mawkma village, a few kilometres away from the gorge where Raja's body was found.
Raja's autopsy report revealed that he was hit twice on the head with a sharp object.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Teams fan out to track elephant and calf that trampled 3, including toddler, to death
Two elephants including a calf trampled three persons to death, including a three-year-old boy, in two adjacent villages in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district on Wednesday. Both incidents occurred in the Lailunga forest range under the Dharamjaigarh forest division. The elephants entered Gosadih village at around 2 am and trampled the three-year-old, Satyam Rawat, to death. At the time, Rawat was sleeping outside the hut and his parents had gone inside to get something. The elephants then strode to Mohanpur village and trampled Santara Bai Rathiya (46) and Purushottam Khadia (48). While Purushottam got stuck under the debris of his home, which was destroyed by the elephants, Santara got stuck in the mud outside the house and got trampled. Jitendra Upadhyay, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Dharamjaigarh told The Indian Express, 'One of the elephants is a female and the other is her calf. They are loners. There are a few more loners moving around and we have made special teams to monitor their movement 24/7 to ensure they do not cause further harm to villagers.' An immediate aid of Rs 25,000 was provided to the kin of each of the deceased, he said. Upadhyay said that the sarpanch of the village was also alerted around 9 pm on Tuesday of the elephant's movement in advance. The officer also said that efforts are being made to find out if the same elephant had trampled another person to death earlier this month. Over the past ten years, northern Chhattisgarh has witnessed a surge in human-elephant conflicts, with several incidents reported, according to the Forest Department officials. According to the officials, these clashes have claimed over 320 lives in the last five years alone. Similar incidents have emerged in recent years across central Chhattisgarh, particularly in the districts of Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, and Balrampur, raising concerns about escalating human-wildlife tensions.– With PTI inputs
The Print
4 hours ago
- The Print
Karnataka HC halts deportation of Russian woman's children, cites UNCRC compliance
The petitioner, represented by advocate Beena Pillai, argued that the deportation process disregarded the children's welfare and violated UNCRC principles. The decision of Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav came during the hearing of a writ petition that was filed to challenge a sudden deportation order issued against the children. Bengaluru, Jul 23 (PTI) The Karnataka High Court has intervened to temporarily halt the deportation of a Russian woman's children, emphasising the need to consider their best interests as mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The assistant solicitor general (ASG), appearing in the matter for the Union of India, informed the court that the children currently lack valid travel or identity documents. Based on this submission, the court observed that immediate deportation was not reasonable at this stage. However, the court stressed the importance of a detailed hearing to thoroughly examine the case. It directed the respondents to submit a written affidavit, confirming the absence of valid documents, and file their objections within two weeks. Additionally, the court issued a clear directive that no deportation plan can be executed without prior intimation to it, effectively stalling any unilateral deportation effort until the next hearing scheduled for August 18. Nina Kutina (40), along with her two daughters Preya (6) and Ama (4), was rescued by police from the Ramatirtha cave at Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district on July 11. Kutina was staying here even though her visa had expired. PTI COR GMS RC This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
The Print
4 hours ago
- The Print
Fake STF officer among 3 held for duping people with fake govt job offers
Superintendent of Police (City) Shankar Prasad said that the gang, comprising Neeraj, Satish, and Himanshu, allegedly used counterfeit appointment letters, identity cards, and recruitment materials to mislead job seekers. The police allegedly recovered mobile phones, forged appointment letters, fake ID cards, recruitment advertisements, and impersonated government uniforms, including caps and belts, from their possession, they said. Bulandshahr (UP), Jul 23 (PTI) Three members of a gang allegedly involved in duping people on the pretext of securing government jobs were arrested in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, officials said Wednesday. They wore fake uniforms resembling those of government departments to appear legitimate. One such case involved duping a man named Gajendra Singh of Rs 15 lakh in the Pahasu area on the promise of securing him a government job, the officer said. During the raid, police seized 20 Aadhaar cards, identity documents, posting and appointment letters, photocopies of bank passbooks, 12 fake posting orders, four character certificates, and other forged paperwork used to carry out the scam, he added. Neeraj has been identified as the gang leader, posing as an STF inspector, according to the police. PTI COR KIS MNK MNK This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
