Muskan Rastogi, accused of murdering and dismembering her husband, Saurabh Rajput, spent her first night in Chaudhary Charan Singh district jail in extreme distress, as per reports. She was placed in the women’s barrack while her lover and co-accused, Sahil Shukla, was lodged separately in the men’s section.
A night of distress in jail
According to senior jail superintendent Viresh Raj Sharma, Muskan remained completely silent upon arrival and refused to eat. Jail sources told news agency PTI that Muskan cried throughout the night. Both accused had reportedly requested to be housed in adjacent barracks, but their request was denied.
“Muskan remained silent and did not interact with anyone. She also did not eat the provided food,” Sharma said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Muskan and Sahil were presented in the court of the chief judicial magistrate and remanded to 14-day judicial custody. Their court appearance turned chaotic when a group of enraged lawyers physically assaulted them outside the courtroom. Sahil’s clothes were torn in the scuffle before police managed to intervene and escort them to safety.
The dismembered body of Saurabh Rajput, which was found encased in cement inside a blue drum, was cremated late Wednesday evening after undergoing a post-mortem examination.
Premeditated crime
Investigations revealed that Muskan and Sahil had a long-standing relationship, having reconnected in 2019 through a WhatsApp group of former schoolmates. Muskan, who married Saurabh in 2016, allegedly saw him as an obstacle to her future with Sahil, leading to the murder plot.
Saurabh, a former Merchant Navy officer, returned from London on February 24 to celebrate Muskan’s birthday, unaware of the gruesome fate awaiting him. Muskan and Sahil first attempted to drug him on February 25, but the sedative-laced food only made him drowsy. On March 4, Muskan drugged him again, this time successfully rendering him unconscious. The couple then stabbed him to death before dismembering his body in an attempt to dispose of the evidence.
They initially planned to discard the body parts in different locations but later opted to seal them inside a plastic drum filled with cement and sand. Before executing their plan, Muskan ensured her six-year-old daughter was sent to her grandmother’s house.
After the murder, the couple travelled to Himachal Pradesh, attempting to evade suspicion. However, upon their return to Meerut on March 17, Saurabh’s family lodged a missing person complaint, leading to police action. Investigators uncovered inconsistencies in Muskan’s statements, and during interrogation, she and Sahil confessed to the crime. The blue drum containing Saurabh’s remains was subsequently recovered from their residence.
Muskan’s parents expressed deep remorse over their daughter’s actions. Her father, Pramod Rastogi, insisted that she and Sahil deserved the death penalty. “Muskan has lost the right to live. Such a person does not deserve to walk the earth,” he said.
