Newlyweds Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi disappeared during their honeymoon in the misty hills of Shillong’s East Khasi district between May 23 and 24. On June 2, Raja was discovered in a gorge below Wei Sawdong Falls in the district, with his throat slit and valuables missing. Sonam was found in a dazed state at a dhaba in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur on June 9.
Shortly after, Meghalaya Police arrested Sonam, along with her alleged lover Raj Kushwaha, and three others for allegedly conspiring to kill Raja. They are now remanded in an 8-day police custody. While police investigation suggests this was a premeditated crime, mainstream TV news outlets were busy with their primetime pulp-fiction probe.
Since news of the murder broke out, several news outlets initially speculated Sonam was trafficked to Bangladesh, a claim that was soon debunked. Later, we got tickers about ‘rising infidelity trends’, men’s rights debates, and kundli analyses and manglik dosh to explain the murder. There was the bit about degrading cultural values due to “Western influence” – live-in relationships and dating apps.
Reporters from at least two media outlets were seen hounding Kushwaha’s mother with mics, while she pleaded for some space while looking visibly disturbed. Some channels aired emotional “face-offs” between the mothers of the victim and accused, often disregarding their discomfort. Raja’s mother, too, was seen pushing away the mics as an array of reporters continued to thrust their mics at her.
Media outlets also portrayed Meghalaya as a lawless frontier where Bangladeshi infiltrators prey on innocent tourists and tribal militants operate with impunity. The Times of India reportedly changed the caption of a video which used the phrase “crime-prone hills”. Some even went as far as spinning theories that Sonam brought Raja to the Maa Kamakhya Temple in Assam to ‘sacrifice’ him.
This is not the first time viewers were subjected to hyperbolic media trials in murder cases. The Meerut murder case was also one that was heavily sensationalised by news channels, as anchors were too concerned about who the father of the accused’s unborn child was. In the Meerut case, channels had waxed eloquent about tantra mantra, and linked ‘black magic’ to the crime.
Here’s how TV channels reported on the Meghalaya murder case.
DD News
“Desh mein bewafai ka badhta trend” (Growing trend of cheating in India),
“Sonam ki bewafai Decode” (Sonam’s infidelity Decode)
“Mangalsutra ki amangal kahani” (The inauspicious tale of the mangalsutra)
Lest we forget, our tax money is funding these tickers on the state-owned DD News. On the channel’s new flagship show, Decode with Sudhir Chaudhary, the anchor played a clip from Sonam and Raja’s wedding and pointed out Sonam wasn’t smiling in it.
“Sacchai hai ki shaadi ke waqt hi Sonam pareshaan thi aur wo apne pati ki hatya karne ke baare me tabse hi soch rahi thi (The truth is that Sonam was tensed and thinking about killing her husband during the wedding),” he concluded.
Then Chaudhary went on a preach ‘saccha pyaar’ (true love), blurring the lines between a news show and a religious sermon.
“Sonam apne pita ki factory mein kaam karne wale ek maamuli se karamchaari se pyaar karti thi aur ussi ke liye usne apne pati ki hatya karva di… Ye pyaar saccha nahi thi. Agar ye saccha pyaar hota, toh Sonam ke mann mein lalach nahi aata aur vo ye nahi sochti ki vo shaadi karne ke baad apne pati ki hatya karvayegi, baad mein uss hi ke paiso se apne boyfriend ke saath ek shaandaar jeevan bitayegi. Saccha pyaar kabhi bhi daulat aur ameeri nahi dekhta. Lekin Sonam ne pyaar se pehle paisa dekha.”
Loosely translated: Sonam loved an ordinary worker in her father’s factory and she got her husband killed because of him. But the truth is, even if she did love him, her love was not true. If this was true love, then Sonam would not have acted greedy and thought that she should get her husband killed after marrying him, later, use his own money to lead a fabulous life with her boyfriend. True love never sees wealth and riches. But Sonam saw money first.
Later, Chaudhary spent over five minutes discussing how the women are no longer the only ones who face domestic violence in relationships. He brought up the Meerut murder case, where a wife was allegedly involved in her husband’s murder, to justify his observation.
He claimed that there had been seven cases of domestic violence against men in March and a total of 2,973 since 2019. Extramarital affairs and casual relationships, imported from America, are the reason for this rising trend, Chaudhary surmised without evidence.
Chaudhary also invoked Bollywood, claiming more movies now show women involved in infidelity when compared to older movies like Judai and Biwi No. 1 and Gharwali where only men had such relationships. Go figure what this has to do with a murder case.
His solution? Stay away from social media to avoid “bhatka hua pyaar” (love gone astray) and adhere to Indian culture.
Republic World
On Republic World, during his debate show, Arnab Goswami asked viewers to ponder if the laws are unfair towards men. Bear in mind, this was a show discussing the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case.
“Viewers, Republic has always taken the strongest line… about crimes against women. But what about crimes against men? Have we become so woke and unrealistic in our approach that we do not see the trend that is emerging of late?”
He said that we needed to think whether our laws and their application are fair to men.
Arnab held a debate on this matter. A voiceover on his show said, “Men murdered. Men forced to take their own lives. And men abused by their wives. Not one isolated incident, but a series of incidents raising questions. Is the law inherently against men? What is the law for men’s protection for heinous crimes?”
Arnab pitted a men’s rights activist and a women’s rights activist against one another. Rubika Liyaquat on News 18 India and Navika Kumar on Times Now did the same.
Mother vs mother ‘face-off’
India Today, Republic Bharat and NDTV decided to pit two grieving mothers against each other. They brought in Uma Raghuvanshi, Raja’s mother and Chunni Devi, Raj Kushwaha’s mother, asking them to confront each other. In these interviews, both mothers seemed quite uncomfortable with the questions being asked, yet these channels tried to get them to debate.
India Today
On India Today, the anchor tried to ask Uma twice whether she had been suspicious of Sonam’s intentions as she insisted on going to Meghalaya instead of Bangkok. She received no response, despite Uma confirming that she could hear them. The anchor then proceeded to elicit an emotional reaction from Uma by constantly reminding her that her son was dead.
The anchor, in an effort to rile her up more, said to Uma, “Ye dukh jo aap par toot raha hai hum samajh sakte hain ki kis tarah kyuki aapne apna beta kho diya hai aur ab chahe jo bhi ho chahe jitni tafteesh ho jaye, jisko saja mil jaye, lekin aapka beta ab lautkar nahi aayega lekin dono maaein humare saath hain… agar aap ek dusre se kuch puchna chahein.”
Loosely translated: We can understand the pain that you are feeling because you have lost your son and now whatever happens, no matter how much investigation is done, whoever gets the punishment, your son will not return, but both the mothers are with us, if you want to ask something from each other.
Uma was also asked whether she thought all girls are “patthar dil” (stony-hearted) these days because husbands are being killed, “Koi drum mein mil raha hai, koi kayi jagaho par mil raha hai (Someone is being found in a drum, someone is being found different places).”
A ticker on India Today read, “Honeymoon Murder: War of Mothers”.
Republic Bharat
On Republic Bharat, Arnab had already declared that Raj Kushwaha was in Meghalaya on the day of the crime. He asked Raj’s mother, Chunni Devi, “Jab Raj ne Raja ki hatya karke jab vapas aaya, toh uska behaviour kaisa tha? (When Raj came back after murdering Raja, what was his behaviour like?)”.
According to Hindustan Times, a senior police officer said that Raj had allegedly backed out of going to Meghalaya at the last minute, though the claim needs to be confirmed. He kept asking Raj’s mother about his relationship with Sonam despite her saying multiple times that she was not aware of it. Raj’s mother even got frustrated and asked Arnab why he kept asking the same question again and again and then left the interview midway.
NDTV
NDTV also pitted the two mothers against each other with their ticker reading “Raja Raghuvanshi ki maa LIVE VS Raj Kushwaha ki maa LIVE.”
These interviews yielded nothing relevant or new. In the ‘face-offs,’ channels asked Raja’s mother multiple times whether she had been suspicious before and during the couple’s honeymoon, but she kept saying that she did not suspect any such thing about Sonam. Raj’s mother was asked about her son’s involvement in the murder, which she denied every time. Videos titled “Camere par pahali baar aamne saamne Raja ki maa VS Raj ki maa” (Republic Bharat) and “Raja Raghuvanshi and Raj Kushwaha’s Mothers Exclusive Face-off (India Today)” were published on their respective YouTube channels and also ran all day on their TV channels.
Kundli Analysis: Times Now Navbharat
Times Now Navbharat did the unthinkable; they conducted a kundli (astrological charts) analysis of Raja and Sonam.
Anchor Vidya Nath Jha presented Raja and Sonam’s kundlis and said, “Kaha jaa raha hai ki Raja Raghuvanshi ki kundli mein maanglik dosh hai aur iss hi se bachne ke liye uski patni, jisse ki shaadi ki, yani ki Sonam ne Raja ki hatya kar di ya karva di (It is being said that there was ‘maanglik dosh’ in Raja Raghuvanshi’s kundli and to save herself from this, his wife, Sonam killed Raja or got him killed)”.
He invited a jyotishi (astrologer) to explain the ‘mangal dosh’. After about a six-minute discussion with the jyotishi, Jha concluded that Sonam had killed Raja or gotten him killed because their kundlis did not match. He then held a panel discussion about Sonam and Raja’s kundlis.
Defaming Kamakhya Temple: CNN News18
On her June 11 discussion about ‘black magic’ and the possibility of a ‘sacrifice’ in Raja’s murder, CNN News18 anchor, Akanksha Swarup in conversation with Raja’s sister made defamatory remarks about the Maa Kamakhya Temple in Assam. She claimed, “Vo log Kamakhya gaye the jaha pe narbali hoti hai ya bali chadhayi jati hai. Ye sab cheezein hain jinse aur shak ho raha hai aapke poore parivaar ko ki ye ek tantric hatya bhi ho sakti hai” (Since they went to Kamakhya, where “human sacrifices happen and sacrifices are offered.” These are all the things that are making your family suspect further that this could be a tantric murder).
These remarks by Swarup were condemned by the local media. The News Mill, a Guwahati-based digital news website, noted that these remarks about the Kamakhya Temple and the prejudiced reportage about Meghalaya within a few days “reflects a troubling pattern where India’s Northeast is often either exoticised or criminalised, with little regard for nuance, accuracy or respect.”
CNN News18 has since deleted the video from their YouTube channel and issued an apology on X on June 12.
Zee News
Zee News anchor Pratyush Khare in their June 8 broadcast said that the three men who were seen around the couple by a guide were speaking in the “local language”. He was soon fact-checked by former Meghalaya IGP Sharda Prasad on the same show.
In their June 7 broadcast, Zee News also called Meghalaya minister Alexander Laloo Hek’s statement irresponsible. “Indore mein aap dekhiye kis tarah se jo couple missing hai usko lekar lagaataar police jo hai vo jaanch kar rahi hai aur in sabke beech yeh bada bayaan yahan par Meghalaya ke mantri ka saamne aaya hai haalaaki yeh bayaan gair jimmedaarana hai.” (In Indore, the police are actively investigating the missing couple’s case and in the middle of all this, a Meghalaya minister has given his statement, which is irresponsible.)
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Hek expressed discontent with sections of the media for portraying a negative image of Meghalaya. Hek said in an interview, “We should file a defamation case against everyone who is maligning the image of Meghalaya and its people.”
State authorities indicated that action would be taken against those spreading hateful messages.
News18 India
A News18 India anchor expanded on Raja’s brother Vipin’s claim that Sonam had been trafficked to Bangladesh. The anchor attributed the claim vaguely to “relatives who talked to locals” and “found out that such incidents have happened before. The man is murdered, the woman is kidnapped and then is sold in Bangladesh.”
Times Now Navbharat
Before she was found in Ghazipur on June 9, Sonam’s brother Govind and Raja’s brother Vipin claimed that Sonam was alive and had been trafficked to Bangladesh. Vipin told the media that locals had informed him that many such cases have occurred in this area. Times Now Navbharat, on June 8, treaded along the same lines. “Sonam ko Bangladeshi ghuspathiye utha le gaye? (Bangladeshi infiltrators kidnapped Sonam?)” read the thumbnail.
The channel reported that, on May 8, Meghalaya had announced the imposition of a two-month night curfew in East Khasi and West Jaintia Hills, along the India-Bangladesh border after spotting “a group of Bangladeshi infiltrators with a criminal mindset”. The channel said Bangladeshi intruders were spotted in the same area as Raja’s body, suggesting that the region is dangerous.
Republic Bharat
Republic Bharat anchor Pragati Sharma stated in a June 8 broadcast that this was not the first time that such an incident had been reported in East Khasi and added that kidnapping incidents have earlier been reported around 150 km away in West Garo Hills, some of them linked to militant group Achik Matgrik Elite Force (AMEF). The anchor did not tell viewers that according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, no terrorist activity has been reported by the AMEF since nine members of the group surrendered before the police in 2015.
Newslaundry had earlier detailed how mainstream Hindi TV news channels had turned their attention to establishing the paternity of an unborn child after the murder of 29-year-old Saurabh Rajput allegedly by his wife Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla in Meerut. After dedicating hours of screen time to the murals painted on the walls of Sahil’s rooms, the time Muskan and he spent together in the hills “partying,” news channels were obsessed with Muskan’s reported pregnancy.
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