While there has still been no headway in the search for Sonam Raghuvanshi, new information has come to light, with a local guide stating that he saw the Indore couple with three other tourists while trekking back up from Nongriat village on the day they disappeared.
The pair were last seen on May 23 and the body of Sonam’s husband, Raja Raghuvanshi, was found earlier this week with clear signs that he had been murdered. The authorities are still searching for Sonam.
The guide, Albert Pde, is from Mawlakhiat village, where the tourist couple had parked their rented scooty on May 22.
As the police investigation continues, two reporters travelled to Mawlakhiat to hear from those who last saw the couple alive.
Pde recalled that he last saw the couple on May 23. “I left from the starting point around 7am and, around 10am, I met them. They were midway through the trek, returning from Nongriat and they were accompanied by three other male tourists. Raja was walking with the three men, while Sonam was walking slowly behind,” said Pde.
Asked if he noticed anything suspicious, Pde replied in the negative, stating that they were conversing in Hindi, a language he does not understand well. He exchanged no words with the pair that morning; he had previously asked them the night before whether they needed a guide and they had declined.
“On the 22nd I went down to Nongriat to drop off two tourists and came back late… 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 Raja was walking with appeared friendly, Pde said they were. “They were talking to each other and the girl (Sonam) was walking slowly behind.” When asked if Sonam appeared exhausted (she had mentioned to her mother-in-law in a phone call that she was fasting) Pde said he could not say for sure. “She had already trekked halfway, so she must have been tired from the trek. I can’t say much.”
Bhakupar Wansai, another guide, was the one who took Sonam and Raja down to Nongriat on May 22.
“I met the couple just a few metres from the starting point. I asked if they needed a guide to go down and they agreed. It was sometime in the afternoon. Raja did not speak English, so I spoke to Sonam. I asked them if they planned to return the same day and Sonam said they would stay at Nongriat for the night. 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 in Nongriat and returned to the village alone,” Wansai recalled.
There are about 20 tour guides in Mawlakhiat village. According to them, it takes most tourists approximately two hours to trek down to Nongriat’s famous double decker living root bridge and about three hours to return.
While gathering more information from locals in Mawlakhiat, it was found that the parking lot lacks basic infrastructure, such as CCTV cameras. The road to the village is also in poor condition and power connectivity is inconsistent.
Wanbha Mohali, the parking in-charge at Mawlakhiat, said he did not see who collected the couple’s scooty on May 23 as there were many tourists that day and his team was busy. “They (Sonam and Raja) did not store their helmets at the counter (on May 22). If they had, we might have been able to identify who picked them up (the next day),” said Mohali.
Asked if he saw the three men who were with Raja, Mohali said he vaguely remembered they were on a bike but could not recall the number plate. “The problem is that we in the village do not 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.
He also noted that he noticed in the evening (of the 23rd) that the scooty was no longer there and assumed the couple had left.
The couple reportedly checked out of Shipara Homestay at 6am on May 23. The following night, at around 9pm, the Sordar of Sohrarim village informed police about an abandoned scooty. Officers traced its ownership to a rental agency that confirmed it had been hired by the missing couple.
Raja’s body was discovered on June 2 near Weisawdong Falls at the Riat Arliang parking lot in Umblai, Sohra. His wife, Sonam Raghuvanshi, remains untraceable. Police have confirmed that the case is now being treated as a homicide. 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.
Asked how the negativity around Sohra has affected them, Mohali said tourism has been severely impacted. “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 scooty 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.
Pde, who was initially hesitant to speak to the journalists, also said that he had been emotionally affected by hateful comments on social media.
“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.
