Meghalaya honeymoon murder: Sonam’s brother says if he knew about relationship with Raj, ‘I would have...’

Govind, brother of Sonam, who allegedly hired men to kill her husband Raja Raghuvanshi, said he was unaware of the relationship between his sister and her ‘boyfriend’ Raj Kushwaha prior to marriage and if had known then he “would have gotten them married or let her run away with Raj”.

“Had I known, I would have gotten them married or I would have let her run away with Raj Kushwaha,” Govind said, according to Live Hindustan.

Calling her sister “stubborn and short-tempered", he stated, “There was never any pressure from our side. If she didn’t want to marry, she could have said so. What she did is unforgivable. She hasn’t just shamed Indore, but the entire state of Madhya Pradesh.”

Raja’s body was found on June 2 in a gorge near Weisawdong Falls. Initially, Sonam was believed to be missing, but she reappeared at a roadside eatery in Ghazipur on June 9 and turned herself in to the police.

The finals ritual ‘pind daan’ (an offering of abundant food items such as rice, barley, flour, and sesame seeds made in prayer for the souls of the departed) for Raja Raghuvanshi was completed by Indore-based businessman's family. Raja’s brother Vipin confirmed that Govind had contacted the family to be part of the ceremony, saying, “We told him he could come. It was his sister’s mistake, after all."

According to authorities, Sonam’s past relationship with Raj was a crucial factor in the murder plot and he is believed to be the mastermind in the case. As part of “Operation Honeymoon”, the SIT has gathered crucial evidence from both Indore and Ghazipur to piece together the sequence of events that led to the discovery of Raja's body in the Sohra region of Meghalaya.