Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 14 : In a verdict in the "blue drum murder case," a Meerut court has sentenced Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla to death for the murder of Muskan's husband, former Merchant Navy officer Saurabh Rajput.
Rajput was killed and his body dismembered, with body parts concealed inside a large blue plastic drum filled with sand and cement.
After a trial spanning 126 hearings and on the basis of scientific and circumstantial evidence, District Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra awarded the death penalty, categorising the case as "rarest of rare."
Reacting to the sentencing, Saurabh Rajput’s mother, Renu Devi, expressed profound relief and gratitude over the court's decision, emphasising that justice had finally been served.
"We feel very good; we are deeply satisfied that both of them have been sentenced to death. We received the justice we were seeking. We are extremely grateful to our lawyers, associates, and staff; we will always thank them and remain indebted to them. We have nothing to do with the daughter who is in jail. As for the elder daughter—if her maternal grandparents hand her over to us without any conditions, we will keep her with us," she told ANI.
Saurabh Rajput had returned to Meerut from London in late February 2025. According to the prosecution, Muskan and Sahil saw his presence as an obstacle to their relationship, hatched a conspiracy, killed him, dismembered the body and sealed the remains inside a blue plastic drum with cement.
The crime came to light after Rajput's family filed a missing person report. Police recovered the drum from the house and arrested both accused.
While the court has concluded the trial with the death sentence and fines, the family said the emotional scars remain. Disowning association with the convicted daughter-in-law, Rajput's mother Renu Devi said her priority now is the well-being of her elder granddaughter, subject to gaining unconditional custody.