Meerut Blue Drum Murder Case: Muskaan Rastogi, Sahil Shukla Get Death Sentence After 13-Month Trial

A Meerut court has sentenced convicts Muskaan Rastogi and her friend Sahil Shukla to death for the murder of Muskaan's husband, Saurabh Rajput. Pronouncing the sentence, the judge invoked the Mahabharata, stating that punishment is also dharma. The verdict concluded a 13-month trial involving 126 hearings and testimony from 22 prosecution witnesses. Both accused were convicted of murder, criminal conspiracy, and destruction of evidence after Rajput's dismembered body was sealed in layers of cement inside a blue drum. On India First, former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Dr. Vikram Singh termed the ruling appropriate and an essential deterrent against diabolical crimes, cautioning against any leniency. Conversely, senior Supreme Court advocate Colin Gonsalves expressed scepticism regarding whether the case meets the threshold for rarest of the rare, suggesting the capital sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment by superior courts.