Shillong: Raja Raghuvanshi and his newly wedded wife Sonam, from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, were last seen alive in Sohra, Meghalaya on the morning of May 23 with three other Hindi-speaking tourists, East Mojo has reported.
The couple, on their honeymoon, went missing after that. Raja’s body was found in a deep gorge on June 2. Sonam’s whereabouts are unknown.
This revelation, of the couple being spotted with three others, by a local guide has brought a new twist to the complex story. The two were apparently trekking back up from Nongriat village ( Double Decker Living Root Bridge ), when Albert Pde, a tour guide from Mawlakhiat village passed them.
Mawlakhiat is the same village where the Raghuvanshis parked their rented scooter on May 22.
Pde told reporters that the couple were on their way up while he was going downhill. “I left from the starting point around 7 am, and around 10 am, I met them. They were midway through the trek, returning from Nongriat, and were accompanied by three other male tourists. Raja was walking with the three men, while Sonam was trailing behind,” Pde told reporters.
Pde said that Raja and the other three were conversing in Hindi and he couldn’t make out what they were saying. “Had they had been speaking in English, I might have understood,” he said.
The tour guide claimed that he had spoken to the Raghuvanshis on the evening of May 22. He had then offered his services as a guide. The couple had declined.
“On May 22, I had gone down to Nongriat to drop off two tourists and came back late because they were very slow – it took them nearly two hours to trek down. That night, I met the couple and asked if they needed a guide for the 23rd. They said no,” said Pde.
When asked if the people walking with Raja appeared friendly, Pde confirmed that they did. “They were talking to each other, and the girl was walking slowly behind.” Asked if Sonam appeared exhausted – as she had mentioned to her mother-in-law that she was fasting – Pde said he couldn’t say for sure. “She had already trekked halfway, so she must have been tired. I can’t say much.”
Pde and others in the area have been affected by the bad publicity that the incident has caused. Tourists have already started giving the place a miss.
“We feel bad and sad about this. Since childhood, we were never exposed to such incidents. As children of God-fearing mothers, we were brought up with certain values. This kind of accusation and misinterpretation really saddens us,” he said.
The journalists also spoke to Bhakupar Wansai, the guide who had accompanied the couple on May 22 to Nongriat.
“I met the couple just a few meters from the starting point. I asked if they needed a guide to go down, and they agreed. It was sometime in the afternoon. Raja didn’t speak English, so I spoke to Sonam. I asked if they planned to return the same day, and Sonam said they would stay overnight at Nongriat. I offered to guide them back the next day, but she said she knew the route. So I just dropped them off at Shipara Homestay and returned to the village alone,” Wansai said.
There are about 20 registered tour guides in Mawlakhiat village. According to them, it takes most tourists approximately two hours to trek down to the Double Decker Living Root Bridge and about three hours to return.
Facilities at the parking lot in Mawlakhiat are less than basic. There aren’t any CCTV cameras, the approach road is in poor condition, and power connectivity is inconsistent.
Wanbha Mohali, the parking in-charge at Mawlakhiat, is quoted as saying that he didn’t see who collected the scooter on May 23, as there were many tourists that day and the team was busy. “They didn’t leave the helmets at the counter. If they had, we might have been able to identify who picked them up,” said Mohali.
Asked if he saw the three men who were with Raja, Mohali said he vaguely remembered they were on a bike but couldn’t recall the number plate. “The problem is that we in the village don’t have a suspicious mindset. We provide parking and hand over receipts but rarely note down number plates. From now on, we will maintain records. This has been an eye-opener for us,” he said.
“The number of visitors has gone down, especially with how Meghalaya is being defamed on social media. For us, we don’t even fully know what happened. What’s shocking is how the scooter reached Sohrarim and the body was found at Weisawdong – it’s very surprising,” he said.
“We feel very hurt by the accusations against our area and our state. Just because we’re from Sohra, we’re being called criminals. But when tourists come here, we treat them like family and welcome them with open hearts. When they drop keys or belongings, we keep them safe and return them. But now, we’re being labelled as ‘crime-prone hills,'” Mohali added, visibly disheartened.
The couple reportedly checked out of Shipara Homestay at 6 am on May 23. The following night, around 9 pm on May 24, the Sordar of Sohrarim village informed police about an abandoned scooter. Officers traced its ownership via an e-challan record, leading them to the rental agency, which confirmed it had been hired by the missing couple.
Raja’s body was found near Weisawdong Falls, nearly 25 km where the scooter was parked. The police have confirmed that Raja was killed with a Dao (machete) found near the body. The families of the couple, devastated by the incident, have demanded a CBI probe, citing the mysterious circumstances and lack of clarity surrounding the events between the morning of May 23 and the night of May 24.
