’Blue drum’ homicide case: Meerut court docket sentences spouse, associate to demise 

New Delhi

A Meerut court docket on Wednesday sentenced Muskan Rastogi and her associate, Sahil Shukla, to demise for murdering her husband, Saurabh Rajput, whose dismembered stays had been present in a cement-filled plastic drum in March 2025.
Saurabh, a service provider navy officer, was killed on March 3 final yr, and the physique was found two weeks later.
District and Classes Decide Arvind Kumar Mishra pronounced the sentence after convicting the duo of homicide and destruction of proof.
The case, which drew widespread consideration due to the brutality of the crime, noticed greater than 100 hearings and the examination of twenty-two prosecution witnesses.
Prosecution lawyer Okay.Okay. Chaubey instructed reporters that the decide referred to the Mahabharata whereas explaining the punishment, observing that “justice required punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offence”.
“Aside from the demise sentence, the court docket additionally imposed fines totalling ₹70,000 on every convict for homicide and the offence associated to the disappearance of proof,” Mr. Chaubey stated.
The 2 accused, who attended the proceedings by way of video convention, reportedly broke down after the decision was introduced. Legal professionals current within the courtroom distributed sweets following the pronouncement. The detailed court docket order is awaited.
The crime
Saurabh, 35, returned to Meerut from London in late February 2025. Based on the police investigation, when his household didn’t hint him for a number of days, they approached the police, who recovered his dismembered stays from a cement-filled drum on the home he shared with Muskan. The couple’s six-year-old daughter allegedly pointed to the container when requested about her father’s whereabouts.
Within the chargesheet filed in Might 2025, the police claimed that Muskan and Sahil drugged Saurabh earlier than stabbing him to demise and dismembering his physique. They allegedly positioned his stays within the drum, sealed it with cement and sand, and left for a trip in Himachal Pradesh. The police used industrial tools to interrupt by way of the hardened cement and retrieve the stays.
The police filed an almost 1,000-page chargesheet detailing the proof in opposition to the duo, together with forensic studies, name information, CCTV footage and witness statements. Muskan, who was pregnant on the time of the crime, later gave start to a lady whereas in jail.