Muskan, lover Sahil get death in Meerut blue drum case

A Meerut Court on Wednesday sentenced Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla to death for killing her husband, Saurabh Rajput, in the infamous blue drum murder case. The death sentence, will, however, have to be confirmed by the Allahabad High Court per law. During the hearing, District and Sessions Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra referred to the Mahabharata, observing that punishment is also a form of dharma. Both Muskan and Sahil – who are convicts – appeared before the court through video conferencing from jail. Saurabh's mother, Renu Rajput, and his brother were present in the courtroom.
After 126 hearings and 22 witness statements, District Judge ruled that Rastogi and Shukla conspired to kill Saurabh Rajput and concealed his dismembered body inside a blue industrial drum using concrete and sand. The judge had commented that such crimes create fear in society at large. Earlier,in the morning, Muskaan Rastogi's parents told the court that Saurabh Rajput was a "very good person", and if the guilty are sentenced to death, "we will not protest". Muskaan Rastogi's family never met her in prison.
“Both have been sentenced to death for the crime. They have been ordered to pay a fine of Rs50,000 under Section 302 and Rs20,000 under Section 238A. It is a historic verdict. The entire nation was watching; the eyes of the public were fixed on what punishment the perpetrators of this crime would receive. They appeared to be in a state of shock; they were stunned. One can imagine the mental state of someone facing the death penalty,” dvocate Krishan Kumar Dubey said.
The case reached the court on March 17, 2025, while Muskan and Sahil were sent to Meerut jail on March 19. The trial was transferred to the district judge’s court in July 2025, and arguments continued for around 13 months. The case has seen 126 hearings and testimony from more than 22 witnesses. The murder drew widespread attention after the prosecution alleged that Rajput’s body was cut into pieces and placed inside a large blue plastic drum before being sealed with cement. The prosecution case rested primarily on circumstantial, medical, forensic and scientific evidence.
Saurabh, a resident of Indira Nagar, was working in London and returned to his Meerut home on February 24, 2025. The prosecution alleged that after his return, his presence became an obstacle to the relationship between his wife Muskan and Sahil, prompting the two to hatch a conspiracy to kill him.