Woman Accused of Killing Husband on Honeymoon, Along with Accomplices, on Trial in India

New Delhi.- The woman accused of planning the murder of her husband during their honeymoon and her four alleged accomplices were presented this Wednesday before a court in the state of Meghalaya, in northeastern India, in a case that has shocked public opinion.

The main accused, Sonam Raghuvanshi, had been arrested on Monday. According to police sources cited by the NDTV channel, Sonam confessed to having orchestrated the crime with the help of her alleged lover, Raj Kushwaha, and three accomplices, to whom she had promised a reward of up to two million rupees (about 24,000 dollars). The three alleged hitmen, also arrested, admitted to having attacked the victim. Before being brought before the judge, the five defendants were subjected to a routine medical examination, according to the local agency ANI.

Event Sequence

The victim, Raja Raghuvanshi, 30, had married Sonam last May 11 through a family agreement or "arranged marriage". This modality, in which the families of the bride and groom agree on the union, is still the predominant form of marriage in India, representing around 90% of all unions in the country. After the wedding, the couple traveled on May 20 to the state of Meghalaya, a popular tourist destination, for their honeymoon. Authorities maintain that the murder was premeditated and planned by Sonam along with Raj Kushwaha, a 21-year-old with whom she allegedly had a romantic relationship. According to the police, Raj was not present in Meghalaya, but he would have coordinated the crime remotely. On May 23, the couple's trail was lost in a wooded area near the Wei-Sawdong waterfalls. The investigation was activated the next day, when the local police found their rented motorcycle abandoned in the area.

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After days of an intense search, Raja's lifeless body was located on June 2nd at the bottom of a deep ravine, with stab wounds.

Initially, it was feared that Sonam had also been a victim, until he surrendered "under pressure" from the investigation on June 9 at a police station in the Ghazipur district, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, hundreds of kilometers from the crime scene. The case, dubbed by the local press as the "Honeymoon operation," has dominated the front pages of the main Indian media, generating enormous media attention. The news programs dedicate a large part of their space to revealing every new detail of a plot that combines an arranged marriage, an alleged lovers' plot, and the use of hitmen.