Abolish Death Penalty India: Blue drum case: The shocking Meerut murder in which Muskan Rastogi, her lover got the death penalty

Friday, October 16, 2026

Blue drum case: The shocking Meerut murder in which Muskan Rastogi, her lover got the death penalty

Meerut woman Muskan Rastogi murdered her merchant navy officer husband, Saurabh Rajput, in 2025, with the help of her lover, Sahil Shukla. They then concealed the dismembered body inside a drum using concrete and sand. After a 13-month trial, 126 hearings, and testimony from over 22 witnesses, the court delivered its verdict: capital punishment for the accused

FP Explainers|Oct 14, 2026, 21:33:11 IST

Remember the chilling Meerut blue drum murder? The infamous Muskan Rastogi? The incident that shook the entire nation in 2025?... Today (October 14), the case reached a major milestone after Muskan and her lover Sahil Shukla were given a death sentence by a local court for murdering a merchant navy officer, Saurabh Rajput, in 2025.

Saurabh Rajput Merchant Navy officer from UP's Meerut was murdered by his wife Muskan and her lover. Image Courtesy: X

On September 30, the pair was convicted by District and Sessions Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra, with the sentence announced today. Following a 13-month trial, 126 hearings, and testimony from over 22 witnesses, the court delivered its verdict in favour of Saurabh, Muskan’s husband and a former Merchant Navy officer.

The case drew significant attention after Saurabh's body was found in a concrete-filled blue plastic drum, which later became the most crucial evidence in the horrific murder case.

While pronouncing the verdict, the judge reportedly said that "such crimes create fear in society at large."

On February 24, 2025, Saurabh returned to Meerut from London, and the next day the family celebrated Muskan’s birthday. On March 3, 2025, Muskan sedated Saurabh, her husband, at their Indra Nagar home by lacing his food, after which Sahil arrived. The duo then stabbed Saurabh to death and dismembered his body. They then packed his body parts into a large blue plastic drum and sealed it with a mixed wet compound of sand, water, and cement, according to the prosecution.

The next day after committing the heinous crime, the murderer duo fled to Himachal Pradesh, and Muskan used Saurabh's phone to drop messages to his family in order to show that he was alive and travelling for business. In mid-March 2025, suspicion grew, and relatives visited the residence and local authorities, leading to further action in the case.

Saurabh and Muskan's six-year-old daughter had told neighbours, "Papa is in the drum," the NDTV reported. On March 17, 2025, the sealed blue drum was finally opened by cops and relatives at the Indra Nagar residence and Saurabh’s remains were recovered. The horrific murder then came to light.

On March 18, 2025, police arrested Muskan and Sahil in connection with the murder and the duo were sent to 14 days of judicial custody on March 19, 2025. On May 12, 2025, 1,000 pages of the chargesheet were filed by police, citing 34 witness remarks as part of the case against the accused.

In July 2025, the trial started before the District Judge’s court in Meerut. The proceedings continued in the months that followed. A chain of technical and physical evidence was presented by the prosecution throughout the trial. Local shopkeepers gave their statements and admitted to selling the specific blue plastic drum, cement bags, sand, cleavers, and razors to Muskan and Shukla before the murder.

Call detail records and location signals detected Saurabh at the residence during the specific time of the crime, while the duo's joint movement to hotels in Shimla and Manali in Himachal was traced. The post-mortem also confirmed that Saurabh died after being stabbed to death.

The conviction and punishment

On September 30, 2026, the district and session court convicted the duo following a 13-month trial. The court postponed the sentencing decision until October 14. Following a hearing on arguments on punishment, the court sentenced Muskan and Sahil to death today. The prosecution pushed for the death penalty, arguing the murder’s premeditated nature and exceptional brutality. Saurabh’s family also sought capital punishment.

What's next for Muskan & Sahil

The death sentence handed down by the Meerut court is subject to confirmation by the Allahabad High Court. The murderer duo also have the option of appealing to the Supreme Court. They can subsequently pursue review petitions and demand clemency through mercy petitions under India’s legal framework. Therefore, the October 14 sentencing order does not mark the conclusion of the legal proceedings in the blue drum murder case. The death sentence must first go through the prescribed judicial process before it can be carried out.

With inputs from agencies

Source: https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/blue-drum-case-the-shocking-meerut-murder-in-which-muskan-rastogi-her-lover-got-the-death-penalty-14052887.html

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The Death Penalty Scenario in India

India is one of 193 countries that retains the death penalty. Some judges have delivered landmark verdicts upholding the rights of death row prisoners, while debates continue advocating abolition or reform of sentencing policies. The Indian government remains committed to retention, asserting executions occur only in “rarest of rare” cases. The death penalty applies to crimes including murder, kidnapping, terrorism, desertion, inducement to suicide of a minor or mentally-retarded person, and in certain cases of rape. Outrage over child rape and murder has intensified these discussions. After an unofficial eight-year moratorium, the government executed Ajmal Kasab (Mumbai attacks) in 2012 and Afzal Guru (Parliament attack) in 2013, both covertly and immediately after mercy petitions were rejected. Prior to this, Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed in 2004 after 13 years on death row. Following these, many mercy petitions have been rejected, creating fear among death row convicts. Courts continue to hand down death sentences at an increasing rate. Empirical studies highlight the plight of death row prisoners. The India Exclusion Report 2017-18 found fair trial rights largely denied, with convicts often marginalized by caste, religion, poverty, and education. The Death Penalty Research Project (2015) documented socio-economic profiles and experiences of death row prisoners. Dr. Reena Mary George’s studies (2014, 2009) emphasized poverty, social exclusion, and dignity as central to death row experiences, and examined the human rights impact of the penalty. According to the National Crime Records Bureau 2015, 101 prisoners were on death row, with many sentences commuted to life. The “rarest of rare” doctrine introduced by the Supreme Court in the 1980s has not substantially limited death sentences, which have increased over the decades. Justice Joseph (2018) reaffirmed the Bachan Singh judgment but urged restriction of the death penalty to only those cases meeting its criteria. While updating the blog and conducting my own empirical studies, I observed the heinous nature of the crimes that were committed and thought about the families, about their loss, about the victims who for no fault of their own died. If I lost my relative or a dear friend, would I still oppose death penalty and would I still advocate to abolish the death sentence? Having worked in the criminal justice system and also having the seen the other side, where often it is the marginalized, vulnerable and oppressed who are on death row makes me want to advocate for abolition of this punishment. Victims should definitely get justice for their loss, for their pain. No one should escape the rule of law. As long as humanity exists; crime will exist. Should we not re-consider our sentencing policies? Reena Mary George