GUWAHATI: A local court in Meghalaya on Tuesday granted bail to Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the alleged murder of her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi.
The grounds on which bail was granted were not immediately known. The Meghalaya Police said they would pursue the matter as per the law.
Honeymoon couple Raja and Sonam from Indore in Madhya Pradesh had arrived in Meghalaya on May 22 last year. They were reported missing on May 23 after setting out for Sohra (Cherrapunjee) on a two-wheeler rented in Shillong.
After an extensive search by multiple agencies, during which drones were also used, Raja’s decomposed body was recovered on June 2 from a deep gorge in the Sohra area. Sonam, who went into hiding after the murder, resurfaced in the Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh on June 8 and was subsequently arrested.
On June 3, the Meghalaya Police recovered a machete from the site. Later, another machete was recovered. Both were used in the murder.
Apart from Sonam, seven others were arrested from different parts of Madhya Pradesh. Sonam, her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha, and Raja’s three alleged killers Vishal Chauhan, Akash Rajput and Anand Kurmi were the key accused.
During police custody, these five accused reportedly confessed to their involvement in the murder. Sonam was said to be the alleged active conspirator, while Kushwaha was the mastermind.
The Meghalaya Police had filed a 790-page chargesheet in September. Sonam and Kushwaha were booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 103(1), 238(a) and 61(2), which deal with charges relating to murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence or giving false information.
After a breakthrough in the case, residents and officials in Meghalaya had demanded a public apology, not just from the couple’s families but also from a section of the media and social media users, for “tarnishing” the image of the hill state that relies heavily on tourism. Raja’s family demanded the death penalty for Sonam and the other accused.