Daijiworld Media Network – Indore

Indore, Jun 6: The family of 25-year-old Sonam Raghuvanshi, who went missing in Meghalaya during her honeymoon, has urged the Union government to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), citing serious lapses in the ongoing police probe.

Sonam and her husband, Raja Raghuvanshi (29), had travelled to Meghalaya for their honeymoon after marrying on May 11. The couple checked out of a homestay in Nongriat village, East Khasi Hills district, on May 23 and then disappeared. Raja’s body was recovered from a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra area on June 2, but Sonam remains missing.

“We believe my daughter has been abducted and is still being held captive. Meghalaya police have failed us from day one and did not act with urgency. I even pleaded for army assistance immediately, but nothing happened,” said her father, Devi Singh Raghuvanshi.

The couple had trekked down to the famed living root bridges after parking their rented scooter at Mawlakhiat village. Their abandoned scooter was found on May 24 near a café on the Shillong-Sohra Road. Meghalaya police have since registered a murder case, but have made little headway in finding Sonam.

Among items recovered near Raja’s body were a woman’s white shirt, a medicine strip, a smartwatch, and part of a mobile LCD screen.

Devi Singh has now turned to spiritual means, placing an inverted photo of Sonam on an astrologer's advice, in hopes it will lead to her safe return. The distraught family continues to press for a central agency to take over the investigation, saying only a CBI probe can bring clarity and justice.