‘Sonam’s family rushed the wedding after engagement’

Raja Raghuvanshi was just 29 years old, who had countless dreams — dreams of building a home, decorating it with love and happiness, starting a family, and living a life filled with joy.

What happened to Raja Raghuvanshi is something neither he nor anyone around him could have imagined. The home he lovingly designed, where every corner was echoing with his energy, now only holds his smiling photographs, surrounded by flowers and many unanswered questions.

It took me immense courage to speak with Raja’s grieving mother, Uma Raghuvanshi. Somewhere in her heart, she still wishes it were all just a bad dream. She avoids stepping into Raja’s room, overwhelmed with anxiety and heartbreak. “We trusted them completely,” she said. “We believed every word that came from Sonam and her family.”

“It was not the first time we got Sonam’s proposal,” she said.

A year ago, when Sonam’s proposal first came, the family had declined it. But the second time, they thought maybe it was meant to be. “When we visited her home, I asked her directly, ‘Do you like Raja?’ She didn’t say a word, just smiled. We left thinking they’d let us know later.

“Soon after, her father called to finalise the engagement. He never even confirmed whether Sonam had agreed or not. He lied about so many things, like her education, the horoscope match, the marriage timeline, and we believed it all. It’s as if we were under some spell. Now, when we look back, we see all the signs God was trying to show us. But we didn’t understand them in time.”

Sonam’s family rushed the wedding after the engagement, leaving little time for Raja or his family to process things. Raja wasn’t even ready. The house still needed work, and he had plans to marry later. When he once asked Sonam to go watch a movie, her mother did not allow. Even after engagement, the two barely had a chance to know each other.

Beloved ‘chacha’

The world keeps spinning. The same daily hustle, the same endless race. But in this relentless rush, time has paused in Raja’s home, especially for his parents. While other family members try to carry on with daily routines and responsibilities, his mother is grappling with the loss and breaks down at the mention of his name.

Raja was a fit and energetic young man. He was the beloved “Chacha” (uncle) of the house, adored by all the children. A few years from now, he would have had his own children, completing the picture of a happy family.

Raja once confided to his mother that Sonam wouldn’t talk to him, and when his mother raised the concern, Sonam’s mother brushed it off, saying Sonam would get tired after work so maybe she could not call. She also suggested that Raja should be the one calling her instead.

Even the honeymoon was not Raja’s plan. Sonam stayed at her in-laws’ house for four days and then returned to her house. She carried all her jewellery with her. She made the travel plans there, and Raja went along. He paid Rs 15,000 to his gym for the entire month of May. So, he probably did not plan to travel. But he trusted her and agreed.

Before leaving for the trip, Raja went shopping with his mother. She told him to leave his gold chain at home for safety. He did. But at the airport, when he shared a selfie, wearing the same chain, Uma asked him about it. He said Sonam told him to wear it.

But when she asked Sonam, the latter said, “Why would I tell him that when I am not wearing?”

Raja had planned to take Sonam abroad on honeymoon, and even had his visa ready. But Sonam’s brother told him that her visa could not be processed because her 12th-grade mark sheet was missing. It was an indirect admission that she never even went to college. Still, the family said nothing.

“Why she did all this, I don’t know,” said Raja’s mother, tears welling up. “I only know that the boy who used to fill our house with laughter is gone. He used to play with all the children in the family. He once said, ‘When I will have kids, I’ll make one big team with all of them.’ Now those kids ask me, ‘When will Chacha come back?’ And I have no answer. I just tell them, ‘Chacha has become a star in the sky.’ They come, kiss his photo, and leave.”

Raja’s father, Ashok Raghuvanshi, barely speaks anymore. Their lives now revolve around the silence of his absence and the haunting echo of his smile.

“I want to ask Sonam, if you did not want to marry him, you could’ve just walked away. We would have helped him heal. Why did you need to destroy him? Destroy all of us. We were living happily before,” said Uma Raghuvanshi.

This is a mother’s anguish, for which I had no answers.

As I left their home, I glanced at the window where Raja’s photograph was kept, a smile frozen in time, a smile laced with the pain of broken trust.