A court in Meerut on Wednesday remanded a woman and her lover to 14-day judicial custody in connection with the grisly murder of her husband, a Merchant Navy officer, whose dismembered body was found stuffed in a cement-filled drum. The accused, Muskan Rastogi (27) and Sahil Shukla (25), were attacked by a group of lawyers outside the chief judicial magistrate’s court after the hearing. Police had to intervene and form a human chain to protect the duo as lawyers attempted to thrash them and grabbed Sahil’s clothes in the scuffle.
The murder, which has shocked the city, came to light after the victim, Saurabh Rajput (29), went missing on March 4. Police say Muskan and Sahil, who were in a relationship since 2019, allegedly drugged and stabbed Saurabh, then cut up his body and hid the remains in a plastic drum filled with cement and sand. The duo later took a trip to Shimla, returning home only on March 17.
Wife drugged, lover stabbed, hid body in cement-drum
According to police, Saurabh had returned from London—where he worked in a bakery—on February 24. On March 4, Muskan allegedly drugged his food, and Sahil joined her to carry out the murder. They dismembered his body in the bathroom using knives and razors, police said. They later purchased a drum and construction material to hide the remains. The body and murder weapons were recovered from their rented house in Indra Nagar Phase 2.
Muskan and Saurabh had married in 2016 and had a six-year-old daughter. The child had been sent to her grandmother’s house prior to the murder.
‘She has lost the right to live’: Muskan’s parents demand death penalty for daughter
Muskan Rastogi’s own parents have expressed deep remorse over her actions and supported the demand for her death penalty. “Saurabh left both his job and family for Muskan, but she took his life,” said her parents, Pramod and Kavita Rastogi, while speaking to reporters. Muskan’s father said, “She has lost the right to live. Such a person doesn’t deserve life.” Her mother added, “It would have been better if she was never born.”
The couple said Muskan never got along with her in-laws and had lived separately since her marriage in 2016. “Saurabh loved her dearly. He even gave up his family’s wealth for her. But Muskan got involved with Sahil, who introduced her to drugs,” said Kavita. They alleged Sahil made her addicted to drugs, causing a drastic decline in her physical and mental health.
Saurabh’s mother Renu Devi also blamed Muskan for alienating her son from his family and ultimately killing him. “I tolerated everything for their happiness, but she destroyed my family,” she said.
(With agency inputs)