CCTV shows honeymooning couple checking out of Meghalaya hotel before wife goes missing; husband later found dead

NEW DELHI: CCTV footage has emerged showing an Indore couple checking out of a hotel in Meghalaya shortly before their mysterious disappearance last month. The video, captured on the evening of 22 May, is the last confirmed sighting of Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam before they travelled to Sohra (Cherrapunjee), where Raja’s body was later found in a deep gorge. The newlyweds reportedly left their luggage at a hotel in Sohra and proceeded towards Maulakaya village. They were not seen again. On Monday, Raja’s decomposed body was discovered at Weisawdong falls. Police confirmed he had been murdered with a ‘dao’—a traditional machete-style weapon. “We have recovered a 'dao'. It was new, and used for this purpose only,” East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem told reporters on Tuesday.

“There is no doubt it was murder. We have to find the motive.” The couple’s disappearance has sparked widespread concern, with Sonam still missing and fears mounting over her fate. Her brother Govind, who has been searching for her in Meghalaya for nearly two weeks, believes she is still alive. “My sister is alive. She has been abducted. I want to request the Meghalaya CM to stop looking for a dead body,” he told TOI, urging authorities to treat the case as an abduction.

Govind also expressed frustration over the investigation’s progress. “It has already been a fortnight and all the agencies have searched all the forests and valleys here. Sonam’s bag, mobile and other items are missing. Police say the last location of both mobiles were Double Decker bridge, but we found out that Raja had put out a social media post before he was killed and the last location of his phone was where his body was found,” he said. Police said Raja’s mobile phone has been recovered, and a murder case along with charges of destruction of evidence has been registered. Authorities are awaiting the post-mortem results to confirm whether Raja died before or after falling into the gorge. “This case has the highest priority,” SP Syiem said. “We can’t rule out any possibility. Yes, the weapon was used for murder. Whether the motive was for robbery, for vendetta or whether there is any form of hatred or any issue in between the accused and the victims, we need to find that out. We need to look for more evidence and only then we can come to a conclusion.” The search for Sonam is ongoing. Police have not ruled out any theory, including abduction or foul play, and have yet to determine a clear motive behind the killing.

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