In what appeared to be a stark reminder to the residents of Garhwa, Jharkhand of the Sonam –Raja Raghuvanshi case, a newlywed woman was arrested for allegedly poisoning her husband to death. The accused, Sunita Devi, is said to have mixed pesticide into her husband’s food on the night of June 15. The following morning, 22-year-old Buddhnath Singh was found dead in his home.
According to police, Sunita had reportedly convinced her husband to buy the pesticide from the local market under the pretext of needing it for crop protection. Buddhnath’s mother, Rajmati Devi, filed an FIR on Monday, accusing her daughter-in-law of murdering her son by poisoning his meal. The Ranka police have taken the woman into custody and sent her to judicial remand, while the post-mortem report is awaited to confirm the exact cause of death.
Ranka SDPO Rohit Kumar Singh confirmed the arrest, stating that Sunita was apprehended following a complaint by her mother-in-law. During interrogation, police officials said Sunita initially misled investigators and even accused her mother-in-law of poisoning Buddhnath. However, after sustained questioning, she eventually confessed to mixing poison into her husband’s food herself, leading to his death.
The case is under further investigation as police await the forensic report to establish the final cause of death.
The victim’s family claims that Sunita was never interested in living with her husband and only returned to her in-laws' house under pressure from relatives and community elders. Buddhnath’s mother alleged that her daughter-in-law had expressed disinterest in the marriage right from the beginning.
As per the FIR, Buddhnath Singh, a resident of Bahokundar village in Ranka police station limits, had married Sunita, daughter of Raghunath Singh from Bishunpur village in Chhattisgarh’s Ramchandrapur police station area, on May 11, 2025. The day after her arrival at her marital home, Sunita returned to her parental house, stating that she did not like Buddhnath and would not live with him.
Despite this, both families wanted to preserve the marriage and held a community meeting on June 5. Following the talks, Sunita returned to Garhwa with her husband.