Meerut 'blue drum' murder: Muskan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla sentenced to death

A court in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, sentenced Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla to death for the murder of Saurabh Rajput, a former merchant navy officer who was Rastogi's husband. The case, widely known as the "blue drum" murder, had drawn attention across the country.

Both convicts were produced before the judge by video conferencing on Wednesday morning. The judge asked each whether there was anything to say before the sentence was pronounced. Both stayed silent, and the court then handed down the death penalty. Arguments on punishment had been completed before the order was announced.

The two had been held guilty of the murder on September 30, 2026. In the days after that verdict, the jail administration said both were restless and under stress. Veeresh Raj Sharma, senior superintendent of the jail, said Rastogi had spent three to four days asking to see her elder daughter, who is about seven, but had not been permitted to meet the child. She had also been praying in jail for three days. Sharma said the behaviour of both had changed: they ate less at breakfast and dinner and were not sleeping well, and Shukla had stopped talking to the other inmates.

The prosecution case goes back to early 2025. Rajput, who served as an officer in the merchant navy, had come back to Meerut from London on February 24, 2025. On March 3, 2025, Rastogi, with Shukla's help, mixed a drug into his food and rendered him unconscious. He was then stabbed in the chest while he lay asleep in the bedroom. The body was cut into pieces and put in a plastic drum, which was filled with a cement mixture in an attempt to conceal it. Investigators found that Rastogi travelled to Shimla and Manali to mislead the family and neighbours.

The trial lasted about 13 months, with more than 127 hearing dates and statements recorded from more than 22 witnesses. The court also went through various items of evidence and forensic reports. Before the verdict, the judge had put final questions to each convict separately over video link on several issues, including the forensic report, and both had put forward their side.