When Saurabh Rajput (29), a former Merchant Navy officer, returned from London to his Meerut home on February 24 for his wife's birthday, little did he know that she had already plotted his murder with her lover.
Just over a week later, Saurabh, who was working in a bakery in London, became the victim of this chilling conspiracy -- his body dismembered and encased in cement inside a drum. The gruesome act was carried out by his wife Muskan Rastogi (27) and her lover Sahil Shukla (25).
The details of the crime began to unfold when Muskan and Sahil were arrested and presented to the media by the police on Wednesday. In a particularly haunting moment, Muskan stood in front of journalists wearing the traditional vermilion of a married woman, despite her husband's brutal death.
When asked about the contradiction, Muskan remained silent.
A court in Meerut has sent both the accused to 14-day judicial custody.
Muskan's parents, Kavita and Pramod Rastogi, expressed shock and disbelief over their daughter's involvement in the murder.
"I wish she was never born," Kavita told reporters.
Police officials claimed that from purchasing knives to obtaining sedatives and even scouting locations to dispose of the body, Muskan and Sahil meticulously planned the murder. The two had rekindled their relationship in 2019 via a school WhatsApp group, and what started as a friendship quickly blossomed into an affair.
This bond grew stronger due to the absence of Saurabh, who worked abroad. According to police, drugs may have played a significant role in bringing Muskan and Sahil closer together.
"According to her family members, Sahil used to take contraband drugs, which he also shared with Muskan. We are further investigating this aspect of the case," said Superintendent of Police (SP) Ayush Vikram Singh.
The affair eventually led to Muskan planning to leave Saurabh and marry Sahil instead. Police sources revealed that Muskan and Sahil saw Saurabh as an obstacle in their relationship and decided to kill him.
"Prima facie, it appears that Muskan and Sahil considered the husband a hindrance and plotted to murder him," said a police officer.
Muskan reportedly came up with the idea to kill Saurabh last November, and Sahil supported the plan. By February, when Saurabh was scheduled to return to India, the the two began preparations for executing the plan.
"Muskan purchased two knives with long blades, telling the shopkeeper she would use them to cut chicken. She also acted stressed to secure banned sedatives from a local drug store," a source said.
The duo's first attempt at the murder on February 25 failed. Saurabh, who had returned just a day earlier, ate sedative-laced food served to him but only slept deeply without falling unconscious.
But on March 4, Muskan drugged her husband's food again, rendering him unconscious. She then joined Sahil in stabbing Saurabh to death. Afterward, the pair dismembered his body in an attempt to conceal the crime. They had already sent Muskan's six-year-old daughter to her grandmother's house before the murder took place.
"The initial plan was to dispose of the body parts in a secluded location, but the duo eventually decided to keep it inside a large blue drum, filling it with cement and sand," said SP Singh.
The duo then travelled to Himachal Pradesh, attempting to cover their tracks, before returning to Meerut on March 17. The very next day, following a complaint from Saurabh's family, the police detained the pair on suspicion.
They were arrested after the blue drum containing Saurabh's dismembered body was recovered from the house.
After their court appearance, both Muskan and Sahil were remanded in 14-day judicial custody. However, their brief passage through the courthouse on Wednesday became the scene of a violent altercation. A group of lawyers surrounded the couple, attempting to strike them and grab hold of Sahil's clothes.
Amid the chaos, police officers struggled to maintain order and ensure the accused's safety.
The Rastogi family admitted that Muskan and Saurabh never had a harmonious relationship, but they placed the blame squarely on Sahil, claiming that he had introduced Muskan to drugs.
Pramod Rastogi, Muskan's father, was particularly vocal in his condemnation, demanding the death penalty for both Muskan and her lover.
"Saurabh left everything for Muskan, including his job and family. But she ended up taking his life," said Pramod, his voice filled with sorrow and anger.
"Muskan has lost the right to live. Such a person does not deserve to walk the earth.
© 2025