‘Why did she kill my son?’: Wife, lover guilty in Meerut ‘blue drum’ murder case - The Indian Express

A Meerut court on Wednesday held Muskan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla guilty of the murder of Rastogi’s husband, Saurabh Rajput, whose dismembered body was found in a blue drum filled with liquid cement at their home last year.

Muskan was allegedly in a relationship with Sahil.

For Saurabh’s family, however, the verdict left one question unanswered.

“The court has held Muskan guilty, but I have one question for her — why did she kill my son? If she was in court, I would have asked her this publicly,” said his mother, Renu Rajput.

The family has demanded the death penalty for both accused.

“Muskan had eloped with my son, saying she wanted to live with him. We got them married… Later, when differences arose between them, a divorce was filed and was pending in court… she could have simply separated from Saurabh,” Renu said.

On Wednesday, the two appeared before the court of District Judge, Meerut, through video conferencing from jail where they have been lodged since their arrest in March 2025.

District Government Counsel (DGC) Krishna Kumar Chaubey said the court is yet to fix a date on pronouncement of sentence.

Saurabh, 29, and Muskan married in 2016. They were in love and eloped together to pressure their families into agreeing to their marriage.

Police said their families eventually accepted it.

Soon after their wedding, police claimed, Muskan pushed Saurabh to move out and live separately from his family. The couple rented a house of their own in Brahmpuri, and their first daughter was born in 2019.

Saurabh was working in the merchant navy at the time. In 2019, he left the job and became a sales manager at a mall in London.

Around the same time, officials had said, a chance meeting outside a bakery in the locality ended with Sahil and Muskan, who were schoolmates, getting into a relationship. Sahil was an online shares trader who worked mostly from home.

In 2025, the prosecution said, Saurabh flew down from London on February 24 to celebrate two birthdays with his family — Muskan’s on February 25 and their daughter’s on February 28.

On the night of March 3, Muskan allegedly laced Saurabh’s food with intoxicants, causing him to fall unconscious.

She then allegedly called Sahil over. The two reportedly stabbed Saurabh to death and cut his body into several pieces, before dumping the dismembered remains into a drum filled with liquid cement.

Police had said the drum and cement were reportedly purchased in advance.

Two days later, Muskan allegedly locked up the rented house, dropped her daughter at her mother’s nearby house and left for Himachal Pradesh with Shukla.

During the trip, she reportedly took photographs and posted them on her husband’s Instagram account to avoid raising suspicion.

When Saurabh’s family found that he had still not come back, they grew suspicious and informed the police.

Police questioned Muskan, who claimed she had gone away with Sahil. Police then brought Sahil in for questioning. The two eventually admitted to the crime.

A search of the house led police to a blue drum in the bedroom. It was taken to the mortuary and cut open using a cutter. The body parts were found inside.

Saurabh’s elder brother, businessman Rahul Kumar, filed the FIR in the matter.

Muskan and Sahil were arrested on March 19.

Then Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Meerut Vipin Tada said police had recorded the entire investigation on video and uploaded the footage to eSakshya to strengthen the case with documented evidence. Tada is presently posted as Additional Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, in Kanpur.

Muskan is lodged in Barrack 2B of Meerut’s Chaudhary Charan Singh District Jail, along with other high-profile female undertrials.

She gave birth to her second child, a daughter, in March this year.

Her first daughter, now eight years old, is staying with her mother’s family.

A senior jail official said no one from Muskan’s family has visited her in jail. Shukla’s brother and maternal grandmother had come to see him.

Rahul claimed Muskan’s family had refused to hand over the daughter to them. “We are waiting to hear the court’s sentencing order,” he said.