Sonam Raghuvanshi, 25, has confessed to murder after she allegedly hired killers to end the life of her 30-year-old husband Raja during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, according to international media reports.
Raghuvanshi was originally missing, and the families of the couple had believed she was abducted or also killed when her husband’s body was discovered; however, she later surrendered herself to the police.
The couple went missing four days into their trip, on May 24, and Raja’s decomposing body was discovered a week later with his throat slit and his valuables missing.
Raghuvanshi admitted to the killing, according to the Economic Times. She reportedly confessed to paying ₹50,000 (approximately NIS 2040) for his murder.
Four men have been arrested in connection with Raja’s killing.
Families shocked by the murder
Despite beliefs held by authorities before the confession, the families had insisted that she must be innocent.
Her father Devi Singh has insisted "she is innocent and she cannot do this," according to BBC News. He told ANI he believed his daughter "somehow managed to escape her captors" and accused the police of “making up stories” about his child.
One of Raja’s brothers also told media that he doubted Raghuvanshi’s guilt, saying he could "not accept Sonam's involvement in the murder until she confessed." Upon learning one of the arrested men worked in her office, he told media: "I now believe that Meghalaya government was not lying. They were telling the truth."
The couple were only married in May and had been eager to travel from their home in Indore to the “very beautiful valleys" in Meghalaya, Raja’s brother told the BBC before his sister-in-law’s arrest.
Both families had supported the marriage, and the death of Raja came as a significant shock.
"Their marriage was arranged four months back, and they were both happy and there had been no fights between the couple before or after marriage," Raja's other brother Vipin Raghuvanshi said.
While the motive of the murder is unclear, Director General of Meghalaya police Idashisha Nongrang told reporters, "if you join the dots, then it would seem like ”Raghuvanshi was having an affair with one of the men charged with the murder.