How the Internet Othered the North East After the Honeymoon Murder in Meghalaya

WebQoof | Users jumped to blame North East India and branded them villains, while the investigation was underway

(Source: Aroop Mishra/The Quint) 

A newly-wed couple from Madhya Pradesh, a honeymoon trip to Meghalaya and a mishap. While media organisations picked up the case of Sonam and Raja Raghuvanshi, it was clear that there were many things that were missing in the narrative. Who would have kidnapped them? Who could have murdered Raja? What was the motive?

Before Sonam's role was established, this "information vacuum" was filled by social media handles, where they tried to spread hatred against a particular community — Christians — and the entire north eastern region. While a few waited for the investigation to conclude, others were quick to blame the residents of Meghalaya.

Take this post for example  - An X (formerly Twitter) user called ‘@vemulajay45’, while replying to a post on Raghuvanshi’s death, said that tribals of Meghalaya were behind the incident. He claimed that the tribals attacked non-locals due to “brainwashing from Christian missionaries”. 

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X) 

It should be noted that the comment came at a time when the police were still conducting investigations around the case when they suspected it to be a case of kidnapping, and the facts were still not out in the public domain. So, this raises the question of why this ‘hate campaign’ even started in the first place? 

Speaking to The Quint, Gertrude Lamare, a PHD candidate at the London School of Economics, said:

"I'm not sure if it was an organised campaign. I think people have very deep-seated stereotypical ideas about other people and how they live their lives. Indeed, racists will be racists, but in India, racism among mainlanders towards North-Easterners also comes from the historical lack of knowledge, in fact, the wilful lack of knowledge about people from the region. On the other hand, we've always had to learn about the history and geography of the rest of the country."

Gertrude Lamare, PHD candidate at the London School of Economics

She added by saying, "In recent years, we have seen more representation in university syllabi and in university spaces, particularly through the creation of North-East Cells and North-East Societies, but outside academia, representation largely remains tokenistic and verges on exoticisation. This obviously doesn't help when the point is to represent North-Easterners as people and as citizens of this country, different but equal in all respects."

"Unsafe for Tourism", "Crime-Prone" and Other Racist Commentary

After Raja's murder came to light, social media users made racial comments directed at the tribes in Meghalaya as well as the whole northeast. They claimed that travelling to Meghalaya was dangerous.

Alienating the state from India, users were quick to pass derogatory comments and spread prejudice against the residents. This spread a sense of ‘us versus them’ on social media. 

Several users commented against travelling to the state following the murder. They labelled the state unfit for tourists. 

Posts alleged that Meghalaya was a ‘terrorist' state, unsafe and had ‘lawlessness.’ Using this case, users alleged that the state was crime-prone.

Here are a few examples of the posts.

Here are a few examples of the posts.

Here are a few examples of the posts.

Here are a few examples of the posts.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, while reacting to the incident, said, “Letting children go so far should also be thought about. I am very hurt by this incident."

The statement not only looked down upon young couples planning their honeymoon but also looked like Yadav was questioning people traveling to the North Eastern state of Meghalaya.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: ANI/Screenshot) 

As per data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) from 2022, Meghalaya had a cognisable crime rate of 109.0 with a charge sheet rate of 36.5 (IPC+SLL). As for murder cases, Meghalaya had 72, whereas Uttar Pradesh had the highest with 3,491.

Speaking on whether this incident would impact the tourism space, Lamare said, "It remains to be seen, as it was found that the criminals were the tourists themselves. If it had been otherwise (locals being the accused), it would have had an impact on the confidence of tourists when choosing the Northeast."

She mentioned that in Sohra, it did not see great difference in tourism even during the early stages of investigation. She also said, "This industry is dependent on domestic tourists, what they think about our region and people matters for tourism to work."

Users also resorted to racial comments on the internet against the state. Using derogatory words, several accounts targeted residents in Northeast India. 

Here are some examples of such posts on the internet. 

Here are some examples of such posts on the internet. 

Here are some examples of such posts on the internet. 

While racial profiling in India is not a new phenomenon, it's brutal to witness in this day and age. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, several cases emerged where people from the region were mistreated and discriminated against for simply belonging to a part of the country. 

Scholars Hyacinth Udah and Parlo Singh noted in their 2019 paper on ‘Identity, othering and belonging: Toward an understanding of difference and the experiences of African immigrants to Australia,’ that ‘othering’ practices were motivated by cultural, racial, and language differences. 

Lamare also mentioned the repeated instances of racial abuse, especially targeting people from Northeast India, which worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic due to ignorant stereotypes linking them to China. She said, "This persistent discrimination online deeply wounds individual and collective identity, further alienating the Northeast from the rest of India."

It was also alleged that the tribal communities have been 'instigated' against Hindus by Christian missionaries which are apparently 'active' in the state.

Some users alleged that these tribal communities wish to 'destabilise' their state and not allow others to settle in their region. To make matters worse, social media users resorted to communal messaging and spread a false narrative about the local residents in Meghalaya.

Here are some examples of such posts on the internet. 

(Source: X) 

Commenting on the communal remarks made on social media, Lamare said, "Having a Hindu-right government doesn't help, because obviously, these divisions have been accentuated in the past. It's been a decade since the Modi government. Indeed, not all Khasis are Christian, and the incident was unfortunately used to polarise the Hindu-Christian divide that we see all over the country."

She added that the incident was exploited by the online Hindutva brigade to push a divisive Hindu-Christian narrative, despite no local involvement. This reflected a broader pattern of religious intolerance driven by opportunistic communal polarisation.

Making Reels on Tragedy Becomes the New Normal

Several content creators were quick to jump at the opportunity of making reel content around this case. While creators making reels on trending topics is not out of the ordinary, one should realise that such reels not only add insult to the injury, but also trivialises and normalises serious issues. 

Sample this — the video shows a man swinging a belt. When a different person questions what the former was doing, a third person replied saying, “He is practising for an arranged marriage”. This paints both arranged marriage and women in a poor light.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: Instagram/Screenshot) 

As any person would rightly argue, domestic violence is not a subject to joke about. This combined with the fact that the reel came after Raghuwanshi’s death trivialises two different acts of crimes.

Similarly, another video on Facebook captioned, “Marriage is scary, what if she insists for a Meghalaya trip,” was also shared. It showed the men in the video running in different directions in the clip. 

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: Facebook) 

Repeated use of the reference of how "north east is unsafe" will create a false narrative about the region.

The Quint had recently published a special story talking about how content on sensitive issues should be avoided 

The story spoke about the insensitivity and sexist commentary on the internet involving these serious crimes. 

(Source: The Quint) 

Did the Truth Finally Set the People Free?

On 9 June, the Meghalaya police took to its X platform to share updates on the case and said that three people had been apprehended in relation to the case. The release further stated that the victim’s wife, Sonam, had surrendered at the Nandganj police station in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh.

The statement also noted that three individuals have been apprehended in connection with this case-two from Indore, MP and one from Lalitpur, UP.

Amid the barrage of racial comments against the residents of North East, a peace rally was organised in memory of Raghuwanshi on 10 June.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma noted that the case was used to vilify the state and the entire northeast region, and that the people of the northeast were hurt and wrongly stigmatised.

He lauded the Meghalaya Police for their exceptional work in solving the case, despite the challenging terrain and weather conditions, reported India Today.

Here is a preview of the report.

(Source: India Today) 

Once it was revealed that the murder was allegedly planned by Raghuvanshi's spouse, several social media handles noted that it was wrong to blame the region. These users demanded an apology for the racist comments against the communities.

They pointed out that Sohra was not 'unsafe,' as claimed by several people and that the region must not be judged by an isolated incident.

Here's what the social media posts mentioned. 

Here's what the social media posts mentioned. 

Here's what the social media posts mentioned. 

Here's what the social media posts mentioned. 

Additionally, the residents of the hill communities of Sohra called upon The Times of India to issue a formal public apology over a recent term used in its Bhopal edition that referred to the region as "crime-prone hills," reported the North East News.

The signatories expressed concern and hurt over this portrayal, which they say has damaged the state's image, despite the publication's clarification that the term was not intended to describe the entire state. The letter emphasised the peaceful and serene nature of Meghalaya and the relentless efforts of the state's police.