Meerut court convicts wife and her lover for husband's murder

A Meerut district court Wednesday held Muskan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla guilty of the murder of the woman’s husband, Saurabh Rajput, in the 'blue drum’ murder case, bringing the trial to an end after 13 months and 126 hearings. District Government Counsel (DGC) Krishna Kumar Chaubey said the court heard the case via video conferencing and held the two accused guilty.

The court is yet to fix a date for the pronouncement of sentence. The case had made national headlines last year. Muskan, 26, allegedly stabbed and dismembered Saurabh — who worked in London and had come home on a break — with the help of Sahil, 26. Saurabh’s family members, who were present in court, said they demanded the death penalty for both. “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. “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,” she added.

The case According to investigators, Saurabh returned to India on February 24 last year to celebrate the birthdays of Muskan and their five-year-old daughter. On March 4, Muskan allegedly served Saurabh food mixed with sedatives. After he fell unconscious, she and Sahil allegedly stabbed him, dismembered the body and threw it into a cement tank.

Investigators claimed the couple fled to Shimla the following day, where they were eventually arrested. On November 24, Muskaan had a baby girl in jail. She is lodged in Barrack 2B of Meerut’s Chaudhary Charan Singh District Jail, along with other high-profile female undertrials. Earlier in the day, Senior Superintendent of Meerut District Jail Dr Veeresh Raj said changes were noticed in the behaviour of both accused ahead of the verdict.

Sahil was quiet and withdrawn for the past four days and has not been interacting much with others. Both accused have also been spending considerable time in prayer over the past three days, he said. (with PTI inputs)