A local court in Meerut on Wednesday has sentenced Muskaan Rastogi and her lover, Sahil Shukla, to the death penalty for the murder of merchant navy officer Saurabh Rajput last year.
The two were convicted two weeks ago, and the sentence was pronounced on Wednesday. A concrete-filled blue plastic drum became the most crucial piece of evidence in the case.
After 126 hearings and 22 witness statements, District Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra ruled that Rastogi and Shukla conspired to kill Rajput and hid his dismembered body inside a blue industrial drum using concrete and sand.
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The judge had earlier commented that such crimes create fear in society at large.
On the morning of the sentencing, Rastogi's parents told the court that Rajput was a "very good person" and that if the guilty were sentenced to death, "we will not protest." Rastogi's family has never met her in prison, as reported by NDTV.
What The Prosecution Said Happened
According to the police case, on March 3, 2025, Rastogi sedated her husband by lacing his food at their Indra Nagar home.
Shukla arrived shortly after, and the two stabbed Rajput to death before dismembering his body in the bathroom, the prosecution noted.
The later investigation found that, to suppress the odour of decomposition, the pair packed the body parts into a large blue plastic drum, filled it with a freshly mixed wet compound of sand, water and cement, and sealed it.
The next day, the two fled to Himachal Pradesh. Rastogi used Rajput's mobile phone to send text messages to his family, creating the illusion that he was alive and travelling for business.
How The Crime Came To Light
A few days later, on March 17, 2025, suspicious relatives visited the residence along with local authorities. Rajput and Rastogi's six-year-old daughter had reportedly told neighbours, "Papa is in the drum."
The Police authorites then cut open the sealed blue drum and found Rajput's remains, which led to the chase and arrest of Rastogi and Shukla two days later.
The Evidence Before The Court
Throughout the trial, the prosecution presented a chain of circumstantial, technical and physical evidence.
Local shopkeepers testified to selling the blue plastic drum, cement bags, sand, cleavers and razors to Rastogi and Shukla before the murder.
Call detail records and mobile tower locations placed Shukla at the residence at the time of the crime, and traced the pair's joint movement to hotel stays in Shimla and Manali in Himachal Pradesh.
Post-mortem findings then confirmed that Rajput had been stabbed to death.
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