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Mahabharat, sweets, patriotic chants: Inside Muskan-Sahil's death penalty hearing
The sentence saw the judge invoking Mahabharata, by saying that punishing those who commit offences is also a ‘Dharma’.
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A UP court on Wednesday awarded death sentence to Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla for the murder of her husband Saurabh Rajput. The case sent shockwaves to the nation after police found that his body was found concealed inside a blue drum at his house.
The sentence, which came after 126 hearings and testimony from more than 22 witnesses, saw the judge invoking Mahabharata, by saying that punishing those who commit offences is also a ‘Dharma’.
"District Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra said punishing offenders is also dharma. Delivering justice and ensuring punishment commensurate with the crime were also the judiciary's responsibilities," District Government Counsel (DGC) K K Chaubey told news agency PTI.
Lawyers distributed sweets
People present at the court premises raised slogans of "Bharat Mata ki Jai", while lawyers distributed sweets and senior advocates welcomed the decision. Chaubey said he had never witnessed such an outpouring of public emotion at the Meerut court complex following a verdict.
Crime ‘extremely cruel’: Chaubey
Chaubey described the crime as "extremely cruel and grave", and said that the court “considered stringent punishment necessary to prevent the recurrence of such offences.”
Both Muskan and Sahil were produced before the court through video conferencing, according to PTI reported.
The duo were ordered to pay a fine of ₹50,000. “The court has also imposed fines of ₹50,000 under Section 302 and ₹20,000 under Section 238A,” Advocate Krishan Kumar Dubey said, according to ANI.
“Both have been sentenced to death for the crime. They have been ordered to pay a fine of ₹50,000 under Section 302 and ₹20,000 under Section 238A. It is a historic verdict. The entire nation was watching; the eyes of the public were fixed on what punishment the perpetrators of this crime would receive. They appeared to be in a state of shock; they were stunned. One can imagine the mental state of someone facing the death penalty,” he added.
“The defense had presented arguments—such as the fact that no one actually witnessed the murder and that both accused have daughters—but these were all set aside because the evidence presented by the prosecution was so strong, significant, and precise that it conclusively proved their guilt.”
The case reached the court on March 17, 2025, while Muskan and Sahil were sent to Meerut jail on March 19. The trial was transferred to the district judge’s court in July 2025, and arguments continued for around 13 months. The case has seen 126 hearings and testimony from more than 22 witnesses.
Saurabh, a resident of Indira Nagar, was working in London and returned to his Meerut home on February 24, 2025. The prosecution alleged that after his return, his presence became an obstacle to the relationship between his wife Muskan and Sahil, prompting the two to hatch a conspiracy to kill him.
The case was registered on March 18, 2025, on a complaint filed by Saurabh’s brother. Police subsequently arrested Muskan and Sahil. According to the police, the body encased in cement inside the blue drum was recovered from the house on March 19.
