Gulab jamun, Manchurian, dal-chawal & noodles: On Raja Raghuvanshi's 'tehrvi', family prepares his favourite dishes; grapples with unanswered questions

INDORE: As the 13th-day death ritual (tehrvi) of Raja Raghuvanshi was held on Monday in Indore, a pall of grief hung heavily over the Raghuvanshi family.The family, still struggling to come to terms with Raja’s murder during his honeymoon in Meghalaya, prepared all of his favourite dishes for the private ritual — gulab jamun, Manchurian, noodles, dal-chawal, dry fruits, bananas, and papaya — as a tribute to the 29-year-old transport businessman.“We are not organising it like a typical tehrvi for a natural death,” said Raja’s brother, Sachin Raghuvanshi. “Only family members are participating and the same question keeps haunting us — why did Sonam get her husband murdered just days after their wedding?," said Sachin.Meanwhile, Sonam's brother Govind attended the tehrvi in Indore.“Shillong police have called me for questioning. They said I need to give a statement and sign it,” he said.Raja was killed during his honeymoon in Sohra (Cherrapunjee) in Meghalaya last month. His wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, is in police custody along with four others — all from outside Meghalaya — for their alleged involvement in the murder.On Monday, Sonam was taken to the Meghalaya Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences for a psychiatric evaluation and was found mentally sound, police sources said. Police are planning to take the five accused to Sohra on Tuesday to recreate the crime scene as part of the ongoing investigation.

Earlier, a local court had granted eight days of police remand for all accused on June 11. Authorities are now likely to seek an extension.Back in Indore, the grief-stricken family continues to demand answers. Raja’s father and brothers have called for narco-analysis tests on all five accused, including Sonam, hoping to uncover the full truth behind the murder.“We still can’t believe this happened just days after their marriage,” Sachin said.

“It’s not just about justice anymore — it’s about understanding why this happened.”Honeymooners’ video surfacesAdding a new dimension to the investigation, a photographer named Dev aka Devender Singh from Sonipat, Haryana, has shared a video on social media, saying it shows Sonam and Raja crossing Meghalaya’s iconic Double-Decker Root Bridge in Sohra. According to Dev, the video was taken by chance around 9:45am on May 23 when the honeymooners came into his viewfinder.Raja’s brother, Vipin Raghuvanshi, confirmed that it’s indeed Raja and Sonam in the video. It’s possibly the last video of Raja before he was killed near the same spot, he said.