Sonam Raghuwanshi's lover Raj arranged Raja's funeral — while hiding blood on his hands

Raj Kushwaha

Raj Kushwaha, a 21-year-old man, was recently arrested for allegedly helping Sonam Raghuwanshi plan the murder of her husband, Raja . Shockingly, Raj helped in organising Raja’s funeral and stood quietly beside the grieving family, pretending to mourn with them.

Even more disturbing, he had comforted Sonam’s father, Devi Singh, during the funeral, holding him and speaking kind words, all while allegedly knowing what had happened, according to a report by The Times of India.

Raj used to live only a few streets away from Sonam’s home and had known the Raghuwanshi family for a long time. The family trusted him completely. He even worked for them in their business, managing bills and accounts.

After Raja’s body was found in Meghalaya on June 2, Raj acted like a close friend of the family. He helped arrange the funeral, stood with the family, and showed support, the TOI report said.

While both families and police were searching for Sonam and Raja in Meghalaya, Raj stayed back in Indore, behaving as if he knew nothing.
During this time, Raja’s elder brother, Vipin Raghuvanshi, went to Meghalaya with Sonam’s brother, Govind. Vipin said that he overheard Govind on the phone during their trip to Meghalaya. "He kept telling Raj, 'I've left everything to you - manage the business while I'm in Shillong'," TOI quoted Vipin as saying.

Photographs from the funeral show Raj standing with the family, hugging Sonam’s father as he cried for his murdered son-in-law and missing daughter. "He stood by us, offered support, helped arrange things," a relative told TOI. "All that while allegedly hiding blood on his hands."

One of the people who went to attend Raja’s funeral, Lakshman Singh Rathore, said Raj had driven the vehicle arranged by her family, news agency PTI reported.

"When Raja's body arrived, Sonam's family, whose home is in Govind Nagar Kharcha area, had arranged four to five vehicles for people to attend the funeral. Raj was driving the four-wheeler in which I went, though we did not talk. Only after seeing his photograph in the media post his arrest, I recollected this episode,” Rathore was quoted by PTI as saying.

Just two days before the truth was uncovered, Raj even visited Sonam’s home again. He spoke to her family casually, showing no signs that he might be involved. Sonam’s father later said, “We had no idea he could be with Sonam or be part of this at all.”