Raja Raghuvanshi's sister deletes massage video shared 4 days after his body was found
Raja Raghuvanshi's influencer sister has come under fire for sharing promotional content on Instagram days after his decomposing body was discovered in Meghalaya. Shrasti Raghuwanshi – a woman claiming to be Raja's sister – has more than 3.9 lakh followers on Instagram, where she continued to share lighthearted videos after the Indore man went missing during his honeymoon.
After massive social media outrage, Shrasti appears to have deleted some of the videos - including one that shows her promoting a massage parlour in Indore. This video was shared on Instagram four days after Raja Raghuvanshi's body was found in a gorge in Meghalaya on June 2.
Raja Raghuvanshi, a 29‑year‑old businessman from Indore, and his wife Sonam went missing on May 23, during their honeymoon in Meghalaya. Raja's decomposed body was discovered in a gorge beneath Wei Sawdong Falls on June 2.
His wife Sonam, 25, remained missing for two weeks - until her dramatic 'reappearance' Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur on Monday. Police say that Sonam planned her husband's murder in collusion with her lover, Raj Kushwaha. Both have been arrested.
Shrasti Raghuwanshi, an influencer claiming to be Raja Raghuvanshi's sister, has come under fire for continuing to share promotional videos after his disappearance, and even after his body was discovered.
One video, which now appears to have been deleted or archived, shows Shrasti promoting a massage parlour in Indore. The video was shared on Instagram on June 6, four days after the discovery of the body.
Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam went missing on May 23. One June 1, a day before the Indore man's body was discovered in Meghalaya, Shrasti had shared an Instagram video promoting a sale at a local smartphone shop. The video is still up on her Instagram.
A post shared by shrasti Raghuwanshi 💫 (@shrasti_raghuwansh)
Her Instagram videos sparked massive outrage on social media, with many calling her content insensitive and distasteful in light of the tragedy.
Now, Shrasti Raghuwanshi's feed is filled with videos on Raja - many of them set to melodramatic music. She has asked for justice for her brother in many of them while condemning his wife Sonam.
However, the criticism against her refuses to die down. While many have criticised Shrasti, some have come to her defense, claiming the videos may have been shot and scheduled weeks in advance.
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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Meghalaya horror: Sonam returned to MP after hubby's murder, met lover, then left for UP, cops say
INDORE/LUCKNOW: Madhya Pradesh police claimed Tuesday Sonam Raghuvanshi had returned to Indore days after her husband's murder in Meghalaya, met her alleged lover in a rented room, and plotted her next move before resurfacing 2,000km away - dazed and dishevelled at a dhaba in eastern UP. Also read: Sonam paid Rs 50k for killers' travel; 2 accused have confessed, say police Sonam, 24, had vanished on May 23 near Wei Sawdong Falls in East Khasi Hills, where she and her husband Raja Raghuvanshi, 28, had travelled on a sudden honeymoon. On June 2, Raja's body was found in a gorge near the falls' parking lot. She remained missing. Her reappearance in Ghazipur on June 9 deepened the mystery. Indore police said she was never abducted as she claimed. "We have information that Sonam reached Indore between May 25 and May 27 by train and stayed in a rented room in Dewas Gate," additional DCP (Crime Branch) Rajesh Dandotiya said. "Raj Kushwaha, her co-accused, met her there. He later arranged a taxi to UP." Sonam trying to mislead sleuths: UP police official Police didn't explain why she was sent to Uttar Pradesh. CCTV footage is being examined to track her route, which investigators said was deliberately confusing. Railway records show she may have taken a train from Guwahati to Patna after May 23-24, dodging flight records and misleading police. A senior UP officer said: 'We have CCTV footage of her getting off a Guwahati-Patna train. The route was chosen to misguide investigators.' The 15-day gap between Raja's death and Sonam's arrest is being described by police as a calculated effort to fabricate a tale of trauma-induced amnesia. At the Ghazipur One-Stop Centre, a govt support shelter, she reportedly slept for seven of her 15 hours there, avoided doctors and police, and repeated: 'Mujhe kuch yaad nahi hai (I don't remember anything).' Her appearance — swollen face, messy hair, quiet demeanour — baffled the staff. 'She looked nothing like a bride. No grief, no mention of husband. Just fatigue and sleepiness,' said a woman officer. According to Indore police, the murder conspiracy was hatched on May 17, six days after the wedding and three days before the trip. Sonam had returned to her parental home on May 15, and reconnected with Raj on another SIM. They spoke for hours on May 16. The next day, Raj allegedly met three childhood friends — Akash Rajput, Vishal Singh Chauhan, and Anand Kurmi — at a restaurant in Indore's Super Corridor, where the killing was planned. The trio left Indore on a train to Guwahati via New Delhi, reached Shillong on May 21, and allegedly shadowed the couple using a rental car. Sonam sent live locations, lured Raja to isolated spots for photos, and waited for the right moment, police alleged. 'They tried to push him off a cliff in a forest first, but it didn't work out,' said an officer in Indore. 'Instead, the attackers used a machete bought in Guwahati and hacked Raja to death in a remote area, as Sonam watched.' Sonam's phone records and messages to Raj contradict her claims of memory loss and captivity, UP police said. Her silence under questioning, indifferent behaviour, and elaborate route back to UP point to a calculated escape rather than trauma, investigators added.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Operation Honeymoon: How SIT got whiff of Indore couple's marriage gone wrong
Guwahati/Shillong: The first clue in the jigsaw puzzle that led to solving the murder plot of Indore transporter Raja Raghuvanshi came when a SIT team found it strange that the newly married couple did not upload any pictures of their trip in Meghalaya on social media. The police also examined 42 video footage and studied their behavioural pattern and movement. These clips eventually proved crucial as sleuths linked them to the crime scene after Raja's body was found and also examined witness testimonies on their movements after the murder. Meghalaya Police on Tuesday disclosed that their operation to solve Raja Raghuvanshi's murder and apprehend the suspects was unofficially codenamed 'Operation Honeymoon'. This specific codename was given because the newly married couple, who tied the knot on May 11, was on a honeymoon trip to the northeastern state, sources said. Sonam Raghuvanshi, who allegedly plotted the killing of Raja Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya, will be produced before a Shillong court on Wednesday, police said. Police said further suspicion arose when posts appeared on Raja's social media account at 2:15 am after his death, which investigators later learnt was a deliberate misdirection. Sources indicate that surveillance footage revealed Sonam meeting the contract killers approximately 10 km from where the crime occurred. Following the incident, she departed Shillong, taking an indirect route through Siliguri to Indore, briefly occupying rented accommodation, before travelling to Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh via Varanasi, assisted by a driver. Crime scene evidence included Sonam's raincoat, which she provided to Akash Rajput, one of the assailants, and a matching jacket worn by another suspect. Investigators also recovered a mobile screen from Raja's device. Significantly, when arrested, Anand Kurmi was wearing the same attire from the day of the incident. The machete used in the crime was bought from near Guwahati railway station, providing additional evidence of the calculated crime, sources added. Police confirmed that the machete does not resemble those traditionally used in Meghalaya. After careful coordination between Shillong Police and Indore crime branch, five individuals were arrested, including Raja's spouse, Sonam, who was brought to Shillong late on Tuesday. Police sources said 20 officers worked across various angles, piecing together the evidence. Within three to four days, they found Sonam's direct involvement in the crime. Meghalaya Police officially initiated Operation Honeymoon on June 7, leading to multiple arrests across Madhya Pradesh by June 8. Sonam remained untraced from May 23 until she surrendered to police in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday night.
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
A Murder, 3 Grieving Mothers: How Meghalaya Killing Has Affected Families
Indore: What began as a dreamy honeymoon for an Indore-based couple in Meghalaya has unravelled into a sordid saga of murder and betrayal, leaving three families heartbroken. The shocking death of 29-year-old Indore transport businessman Raja Raghuvanshi has ripped open a dark secret, plunging three mothers into unimaginable grief. As Meghalaya Police peel the layers of this horrific crime, the narrative points to a "murder of trust" within the most intimate of relationships. According to Meghalaya Police, Sonam was allegedly involved in the conspiracy to murder her husband Raja Raghuvanshi with her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha. The duo had hired three killers to execute the plan. Uma Raghuvanshi stands by her son Raja's garlanded photograph, her face a mask of grief and bewildered anger. "Initially, we couldn't believe that my daughter-in-law Sonam could get my son Raja killed," she told PTI, her voice trembling. "But we are slowly starting to believe it now." The questions that haunt her is, "If Sonam liked another boy, why didn't she refuse to marry Raja? Why did she kill my son?" The two got married on May 11 and left for honeymoon on May 20. During the probe, it emerged that Sonam herself had planned the trip to Meghalaya. "I didn't know that my son would return from Meghalaya as a dead body," Uma said while crying inconsolably and recalling the warm send-off the day the couple left, little knowing that it would turn into a tragic farewell. The family was completely unaware of Raj Kushwaha's existence before the Meghalaya police investigated the case. Miles away from Raja's residence, in a small rented house in Indore, Raj Kushwaha's mother, Chunni Devi, is also inconsolable, along with her three daughters. "My son is innocent. He has been framed. How can a 20-year-old boy commit such a big crime? He is the only breadwinner in our house after my husband passed away," she told PTI. She also claimed that her son even attended Raja Raghuvanshi's funeral procession and returned home in tears. "My son was saddened by Raja Raghuvanshi's death and even went to his funeral procession. After returning from the funeral procession, he was crying a lot. I had consoled him that everything will be fine and what is the use of crying now," the mother of the alleged main conspirator said. Sonam's maternal home in Indore's Govind Nagar Kharcha area is in a different kind of shock. Her family runs a business dealing in Sunmica sheets, where Raj Kushwaha, a 12th-grade dropout, worked as an accountant. Sonam's mother, Sangeeta, was reluctant to speak to the media. "False allegations are being made against my daughter. I cannot say right now what might have happened to Raja Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya?" she muttered. The mother of Sonam, the alleged main accused, demanded that there should be a detailed investigation into the murder of her son-in-law. Raja Raghuvanshi and Sonam were reported missing on May 23 and days later, the body of the newlywed groom was discovered on June 2 in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra, also known as Cherrapunji, in the East Khasi Hills district. Sonam surrendered to the police in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district, while Raj Kushwaha and three other accused were apprehended in various parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Meghalaya Police is probing every detail of this case. However, for the three mothers whose lives have been irrevocably shattered, the tears continue to flow.
