Guwahati: A court in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, today sentenced Muskaan Rastogi and her lover, Sahil Shukla, to death for the murder of merchant navy officer Saurabh Rajput in March 2025. The duo had been convicted two weeks earlier.
The case drew widespread attention after Rajput’s dismembered body was discovered inside a blue plastic drum filled with a mixture of cement, sand and water.
After 126 hearings and statements from 22 witnesses, District Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra ruled that Rastogi and Shukla had conspired to kill Rajput and conceal his body. The judge reportedly observed that such crimes create fear in society.
As per the prosecution, Rastogi sedated her husband by mixing a substance into his food at their Indra Nagar residence on 3rd March , 2025. Shukla subsequently arrived, and the two allegedly stabbed Rajput to death before dismembering his body in the bathroom.
They then placed the body parts inside a large blue plastic drum and sealed it with a concrete mixture to conceal the crime and suppress the smell of decomposition.
The next day, the duo allegedly fled to Himachal Pradesh. Rastogi reportedly used Rajput’s mobile phone to send messages to his family, creating the impression that he was alive and travelling for work.
Before the sentencing, Rastogi’s parents reportedly told the court that Rajput was a good person and that they would not oppose the death penalty for those convicted.