Muskaan Rastogi and her lover, 28‑year‑old Sahil Shukla, broke into tears after the Meerut Sessions Court pronounced their death sentences, and jail officials reported that both had stopped eating since the verdict. The prison has assigned them new identification numbers—Shukla 395, Rastogi 396—and has tightened surveillance, placing them in separate cells and monitoring their health closely.
The pair’s crime began on March 3 2025 when Rastogi laced Rajput’s food with a sedative, then, with Shukla’s help, stabbed him and dismembered the body. They sealed the remains in a blue industrial drum, stuffing it with concrete, sand, and water, and fled to Himachal Pradesh the next day.
The trial spanned 126 hearings and 22 witnesses, with the court ultimately finding the duo guilty after the prosecution presented forensic evidence of the drum and the confession of Shukla. Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra, citing passages from the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata, delivered the sentence, underscoring the court’s duty to enforce ‘dharma.’
Rastogi’s parents stood in the courtroom, declaring that their daughter was a “good person” and that they would not protest the death penalty, while Rajput’s family members declined to speak. The lawyer for Rajput’s side said the conviction was a triumph over the defense’s efforts to mitigate.
Shukla and Rastogi have been informed that they can appeal to the Delhi High Court, where the sentence must be reviewed; the court will decide whether execution will proceed after the appeal deadline. Meanwhile, the six‑year‑old daughter of Saurabh Rajput has been told that her father’s body was found in a blue drum, a detail that continues to haunt the community of Indra Nagar.