At a Glance

India venerates Savitri, the mythic spouse who wrestled Death for her husband’s life. June 2025 slammed that ideal against a grisly counter-example: police say newly-wed Sonam Raghuvanshi plotted husband Raja’s murder on their Meghalaya honeymoon. Two women, two eras, one brutal reminder—marriage carries risk, not divine guarantee.

1 Why Savitri Still Shapes the Balance-Sheet

Every Vat Savitri Vrat season, markets of faith blossom: bangles, banyan threads and sweet boxes move faster than small-cap volumes on Budget Day. The legend’s core asset:

• Intellect as Insurance: Savitri bypasses swords, litigates with Yama, wins a 100% life-back return.
• Devotion as Dividend: Households still call a self-sacrificing wife “Savitri” stock—perceived low beta, high emotional yield.
• Cultural Compounding: Generations wrap banyan trees believing a single fast extends a husband’s tenure—like locking in a perpetual bond.

Yet mythology prices in perfect information and zero moral hazard. Reality, as the Sonam case shows, trades on very different fundamentals.

2 The Sonam Murder Allegations — A Quick Ledger

Investigators’ theory (abridged): affair + potential insurance windfall + quick exit from marriage liabilities.
Market analogy: a leveraged short on the matrimonial asset, executed before lock-in expired.

3 Patriarchy’s P&L Statement

Revenue Streams

• Ritual economy (~₹400 crore every June)
• TV serial TRP spikes whenever the bahu fasts for her pati

Liabilities Ignored

• Domestic abuse costs (medical + legal)
• Divorce litigation drain
• Extreme tail-risk events—yes, including homicide

Patriarchy sells “good wife” derivatives promising eternal husband alpha; it rarely discloses the counter-party default rate.

4 Savitri vs Sonam — Scoreboard

5 Marriage Risk Metrics for 2025 Investors

1. Volatility Spike: Rising female financial autonomy = greater variance in marital outcomes. Honeymoon murder is an extreme outlier, but it forces a re-rating.
2. Due-Diligence Premium: Families may ask harder questions—credit scores, insurance details, even psychology screenings—before “investing” in a spouse.
3. Regulatory Noise: Politicians will demand stricter premarital counselling and disclosure norms, expecting cultural alpha but padding their moral CVs.
4. Sentiment Split: Traditionalists double-down on fasts; pragmatists update stop-loss orders on blind trust.

6 EduInvesting Take

Savitri’s legend is still a brilliant case study in risk-adjusted devotion: she leverages intellect, empathy and airtight logic to compel a 100% life-back payoff—a cosmic multibagger. The Sonam saga, if proven, is the mirror opposite: malicious arbitrage of a relationship, liquidated for quick cash.

Investors—whether you deploy capital or emotions—should treat marriage like any high-stakes position:

• Perform Fundamental Analysis: motives, temperament, liability exposure.
• Demand Transparent Disclosures: life-insurance clauses, outstanding debts, unresolved exes.
• Set Clear Stop-Losses: prenups, therapy, and exit plans are not unromantic; they’re prudent capital management.
• Remember Diversification: your identity, wealth and safety can’t hinge solely on another person’s goodwill—or mythical protection.

Blind faith generated mythical returns only in epics; in 2025 it can generate a murder investigation.

Author: Prashant Marathe
Date: 10 June 2025

Tags: Savitri, Sonam Raghuvanshi, Marriage Economics, Crime & Culture, EduInvesting Commentary