By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, April 28: Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the alleged murder of her husband and Indore-based businessman Raja Raghuvanshi, walked out of Shillong district jail at 7 p.m. on Tuesday after securing bail from a local court earlier in the day.
Citing procedural lapses in Sonam’s arrest, the court of Additional Deputy Commissioner (Judicial), Shillong, D.R. Kharbteng, set four conditions while granting bail to the prime accused in the sensational honeymoon murder case.
Citing judicial precedents, the court held that the accused was entitled to bail and imposed conditions that she must not abscond or tamper with evidence or witnesses, must attend all court hearings, and shall not leave the court’s jurisdiction without prior permission. She was also directed to furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties of a like amount.
This was Sonam’s fourth bail application after three previous ones were rejected by the lower court.
The bail order noted deficiencies in the manner in which the grounds of arrest were communicated to the accused.
The bail was granted following an application filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. Deputy Chief Legal Aid Defence Counsel Sudeep Rana appeared for the petitioner, while Special Public Prosecutor K.C. Gautam represented the state.
The defence argued that the accused had been in custody for over 10 months since her arrest on June 9, 2025, from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, in connection with an FIR lodged at Sohra Police Station on June 3, 2025.
Although charges were framed on October 28, 2025, and trial proceedings had commenced, only four out of 90 listed witnesses have been examined so far.
The case relates to the alleged murder of Raja Raghuvanshi, who went missing on May 23, 2025, during a honeymoon trip to Meghalaya. His body was later recovered from a deep gorge near Wei Sawdong Falls in Sohra on June 2.
Investigations by a Special Investigation Team of Meghalaya Police alleged that Sonam, along with her associate Raj Kushwaha, conspired to murder Raja and hired three others—Akash Rajput, Anand Kurmi, and Vishal Singh Chauhan—to execute the crime.
Police had filed a 790-page charge sheet before a court in Sohra in September last year.
