A court in Meerut has sentenced Muskan Rastogi and her partner Sahil Shukla to death for murdering Rastogi’s husband, Saurabh Rajput, a merchant navy officer whose dismembered body was concealed in a blue drum filled with cement.
District Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra delivered the verdict on Wednesday after 126 hearings during a 13-month trial. Rajput was killed on March 3, 2025, and his remains were recovered approximately two weeks later. The case attracted widespread attention because of the circumstances surrounding the murder and the attempts to conceal the body.
According to senior jail superintendent Viresh Raj Sharma, both convicts appeared anxious before the verdict. They reportedly ate less than usual, slept poorly and became emotional after the court announced its decision.
Rastogi and Shukla appeared separately before the court through video conferencing from jail and were given an opportunity to speak. Both said they had nothing to say, Sharma stated. He added that Rastogi had been seeking permission to meet her elder daughter for three to four days, but the child had not been brought to the jail.
Prosecution Seeks Death Penalty, Defence Appeals for Leniency
During the proceedings, the prosecution, represented by district government counsel Krishna Kumar Chaubey, sought the death penalty, citing the brutality of the murder, the dismemberment of Rajput’s body and the alleged attempt to conceal it in a cement-filled drum.
The prosecution argued that Rastogi and Shukla had conspired to kill Rajput and that the circumstances of the crime warranted the maximum punishment.
The defence, represented by advocate Rekha Jain, appealed for leniency, citing the future and upbringing of Rastogi’s two daughters, aged seven years and 10 months.
The death sentence is subject to the applicable confirmation process before a higher court.
The case also draws attention to the rarity of capital punishment for women in India. As of December 31, 2025, approximately 24 women were on death row in the country. Rattan Bai Jain remains the only woman whose death sentence has been carried out in India.
Missing-Person Complaint Leads to Discovery of Body
The case came to light after Rajput’s brother, Bablu, filed a missing-person complaint on March 18, 2025, raising suspicions about Rastogi and Shukla.
According to investigating officer Ramakant Pachauri, who was then the station house officer of Brahmpuri police station, police registered a first information report and began investigating Rajput’s disappearance.
The investigation led to the recovery of Rajput’s dismembered remains from a blue drum inside the house.
According to the police investigation, Rajput had brought kofta curry from his mother Renu Devi’s home on the night of the murder. Rastogi allegedly mixed a sedative into the food. After Rajput became unconscious, Shukla was allegedly called to the house.
Investigators alleged that Rajput was subsequently murdered and his body dismembered in the washroom. The accused reportedly attempted to place the remains in a briefcase, but abandoned the plan after its hook broke. The body was then placed on a bed before being concealed inside the drum.
Circumstantial and Forensic Evidence Central to Trial
With no eyewitnesses to the murder, investigators relied on circumstantial, electronic and forensic evidence to reconstruct the sequence of events and establish the alleged involvement of the accused.
Investigators questioned the cab driver whose vehicle Rastogi and Shukla reportedly used after the crime. They also collected witness statements and CCTV footage from the hotel where the two were allegedly staying.
Call detail records, mobile phone location data, hotel registers and forensic reports formed part of the evidence examined during the investigation and trial.
The prosecution examined 22 witnesses during the proceedings. Chaubey said the then district judge had directed day-to-day hearings because of the seriousness of the case.
