A Meerut court has sentenced Muskaan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla to death for the murder of Saurabh Rajput, a former Merchant Navy officer. Reacting to the verdict, Saurabh’s mother Renu and his brother Rahul said, “We are satisfied with the court’s verdict.”
The family also spoke about the time since the murder. “The past year has been extremely difficult for us,” they said.
On the question of Muskaan’s children, Saurabh’s mother said, “We are willing to adopt Muskaan’s elder daughter.” Saurabh and Muskaan’s daughter was born in 2019.
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“However, we will not adopt the younger daughter, as she is Sahil’s child,” she added.
Muskaan was lodged in Meerut jail when she gave birth to a baby girl on November 24. She went into labour inside the jail barrack and delivered the child at Lala Lajpat Rai Medical College in Meerut. The date was also Saurabh’s birthday.
The day after the birth, Saurabh’s family demanded a DNA paternity test. His brother, Rahul, said the family would make sure the test was carried out. “If the child is indeed Saurabh’s daughter, we will willingly accept her,” he added.
The doubt arose from the timing of Muskaan’s arrest. She was arrested on March 19 along with Sahil Shukla, a co-accused in the murder. She was already one-and-a-half months pregnant at the time, which led to questions about the father’s identity.
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Saurabh Rajput and Muskaan Rastogi married in 2016, in a love marriage. Police say Saurabh later learnt of Muskaan’s affair with his friend Sahil, and the couple considered divorce. Saurabh stepped back, thinking of his daughter’s future, rejoined the Merchant Navy and left the country for work in 2023.
He returned home on February 24, 2025, to be with his daughter on her sixth birthday. According to the police investigation, Muskaan drugged him with sleeping pills on the night of March 3, and she and Sahil killed him. They then cut the body into 15 pieces and put them in a blue drum sealed with cement, the police said.
Saurabh’s family filed a complaint when he stopped taking their calls for several days. Police took Muskaan and Sahil into custody, and the body was recovered 14 days after the murder.
After 126 hearings and 22 witness statements, District Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra ruled that Muskaan and Sahil conspired to kill Saurabh and hid his dismembered body in a blue industrial drum using concrete and sand.
Looking ahead, the family said it may not consider the matter closed. “We are prepared to approach higher courts in the future if required,” it said.
