Indore Couple Missing in Meghalaya: Man Found Dead, Wife Yet to Be Traced
Did Sonam Raghuvanshi's affair lead to her husband Raja's murder?
What was meant to be a romantic getaway for a newlywed couple from Indore has taken a chilling turn in the scenic hills of Meghalaya. Over a week after the pair went missing during their honeymoon, the body of 30-year-old Raja Raghuvanshi has been found under suspicious circumstances, while the search for his wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, 27, continues.
The couple had last been seen on May 23, after they checked out from a homestay in Nongriat village — a remote tourist destination known for its living root bridges, nestled deep in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills. That was the last known contact anyone had with them.
On June 2, search teams recovered Raja’s semi-decomposed body at the bottom of a deep gorge below the Weisawdong Waterfall parking zone in Riat Arliang, roughly 20 kilometers from Nongriat. His identity was confirmed by a tattoo on his right hand reading “Raja,” and his smartwatch, still strapped to his wrist, further corroborated it.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem, has confirmed that a murder case has been registered, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) is now in charge of the case. Authorities are treating the death as suspicious and have not ruled out any possibility — including foul play or even honour killing. “We are exploring all angles,” Syiem told CNN-News18.
Disturbing clues were recovered near the scene — a woman’s white shirt, a shattered phone screen, and a strip of Pentra 40 (a medication for acidity), pointing to a possible struggle or abduction. However, Sonam is still missing, and her fate remains unknown.
The couple had arrived in the region on May 22, renting a scooter to travel to the picturesque village of Mawlakhiat. From there, they descended approximately 3,000 steep steps to Nongriat, where they spent the night. Their scooter was later found abandoned on May 24 near a roadside café along the Shillong-Sohra route — a key detail that triggered the search operation, assisted by local villagers.
The body has been sent to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong, where a post-mortem will hopefully reveal more about the cause and time of death.
Back in Indore, the family is devastated. Raja’s brother, Sachin Raghuvanshi, has publicly voiced suspicions about local involvement. He has accused certain hotel staff, tour guides, and scooter rental agents of possibly playing a role in the couple’s disappearance. The family has also criticized the Meghalaya Police for what they describe as delayed and inefficient action during the critical early hours of the case.
