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    Meghalaya hits back: After solving honeymoon murder, state demands apology for online vilification and tourism smear

    Synopsis

    Following the resolution of the Indore honeymoon couple's murder case, Meghalaya organizations are demanding apologies from social media users and media outlets for vilifying the state and harming its tourism industry. The government has filed FIRs against those who ran campaigns against Meghalaya.

    meghalaya-honeymoon-murder-case.Agencies
    With police in Meghalaya resolving the murder mystery of a Honeymoon couple, several organisations and pressure in Meghalaya are demanding apology from social media users and organisations who vilified the state in the wake of murder and tried to harm the tourism industry of the state.

    Various organisations in Meghalaya, including the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC), staged a silent demonstration at Police Bazar on Monday to denounce the recent murder of a tourist from Indore Raja Raghuvanshi. On Tuesday a rally was organised by some organisations denouncing the remarks made by the several people against the state in its people.

    HYC President Roykupar Synrem said that Meghalaya has always been a peaceful and hospitable place for visitors. “This incident is unfortunate and should not define our state. There have been several instances in the recent past where individuals from outside committed crimes and fled Meghalaya."

    Synrem further urged the government to implement the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in the state at the earliest. He stressed that doing so would act as a deterrent to criminal elements and enhance the safety and monitoring of outsiders entering Meghalaya.

    The Meghalaya government has filed FIRs against some media outlets, some YouTubers and family members of the accused and the victim for running a campaign against the state soon after reports of disappearance of the honeymoon couple emerged.

    Tourism minister Paul Lyngdoh on Monday said that the murder case is the fallout of a love triangle where Sonam Raghuvanshi and her lover hired contract killers to kill her husband, Raja.

    “As far as the attack on the image of Meghalaya, the media trial and slugfest that was orchestrated by some news channel, the state government through police has registered FIRs and we will also move legally on the matter to ensure all perpetrators who attacked the image of Meghalaya are brought to book."

    A’chik Youth Welfare Organization (AYWO) has also issued a statement condemning the “pernicious” and “prejudiced” narratives propagated against the state and its indigenous people in the wake of a crime involving the disappearance of a tourist couple from Indore in Meghalaya.

    While calling upon the state government to take “decisive action” to safeguard the state’s dignity and honour and initiate legal action against the brother of the deceased, AYWO urged the government to address the “broader” defamatory campaign by engaging with national media to ensure accountability and demand retraction of their misleading reports.

    Sonam Raghuvanshi, the woman who is suspected to be involved in the murder of her husband, surrendered to police.

    Sonam was located and taken into custody from Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh. She surrendered at the Nandganj police station late Sunday night. Meghalaya police claimed that it has successfully solved the mysterious case.

    Sonam, who had reportedly gone missing after her husband's body was discovered in a gorge beneath the Weisawdong Falls parking lot in East Khasi Hills on June 2.

    The police have so far arrested four individuals, including Sonam. Three others were apprehended from different states; one in Uttar Pradesh, and two in Madhya Pradesh's Indore. Sonam is accused of orchestrating her husband's killing by hiring contract killers.

    Sonam's family has strongly refuted the murder allegations. Her father, Devi Singh, maintains that his daughter is innocent and has called for an independent inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

    Indore Parliamentarian Shankar Lalwani recently came and met with senior police officials, including Director General of Police Idashisha Nongrang to take stock of the details into the matter.

    Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav personally reached out to his Meghalaya counterpart, Conrad Sangma, to discuss the case, following which Lalwani made his visit.

    Raja, a transport businessman, and Sonam had travelled to Meghalaya for their honeymoon on May 20.

    They were last seen in Shillong’s Sohrarim area on May 23. Their abandoned scooter was discovered near Osara Hills the same day.



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