MEERUT A court in Meerut on Wednesday sentenced Muskan Rastogi and her partner Sahil Shukla to death for the murder of her husband, Saurabh Rajput, whose body was dismembered and cemented inside a blue drum. The merchant navy officer was killed on March 3, 2025, and his body discovered two weeks later. The killing captured national headlines for its grisly details.
The investigation eventually led police to recover Saurabh’s dismembered body from a blue drum kept inside the house. Muskan allegedly laced the food with a sedative. After Saurabh became unconscious, Sahil was allegedly called to the house. The accused allegedly first attempted to place the body inside a briefcase, but abandoned the plan after its hook broke. The body was then placed inside a bed before being concealed in a blue drum. Police questioned the cab driver in whose vehicle Muskan and Sahil reportedly travelled after the crime.
The case came to light after Saurabh’s brother Bablu lodged a missing-person complaint on March 18, 2025, expressing suspicion about Muskan and Sahil.
Who was then the station house officer of Brahmpuri police station, police registered an FIR and began investigating Saurabh’s disappearance, according to investigating officer Ramakant Pachauri. Saurabh had brought ‘kofta’ curry from his mother Renu Devi’s house on the night of the murder, according to the police investigation. Police said Saurabh was subsequently murdered and his body dismembered in the washroom. Investigators also collected statements and CCTV footage from the hotel where the two were said to have stayed.
The prosecution sought death penalty, citing the brutality of the murder, the dismemberment of the victim’s body and attempts to conceal it inside a blue drum using cement. The defence, represented by advocate Rekha Jain, urged the court to show leniency, citing the future and upbringing of Muskan’s two daughters. Saurabh’s family had consistently sought stringent punishment for the two convicts. He had also spoken about the considerable mental distress the family endured during the legal proceedings.
His elder brother Rahul had earlier said the family wanted nothing less than the death penalty.
