‘Family upset with me’: Meerut murder accused Muskan Rastogi requests for govt defense counsel

Muskan Rastogi, along with her lover Sahil Shukla, had stabbed her husband Saurabh Rajput to death on March 4. The two are currently lodged in the Meerut jail.

Muskan Rastogi, accused of murdering her husband Saurabh Rajput with her lover Sahil Shukla in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, has requested for a government defense counsel, stating that her family won't fight for her as they are "upset" with her.

Muskan Rastogi is also facing drug withdrawal issues in prison, demanding morphine injections from authorities. (PTI)

Muskan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla are currently lodged in the Meerut District Jail for the alleged murder of Rajput, whom they stabbed to death on March 4. The lovers later chopped his body into multiple pieces and hid them in a drum filled with cement.

Senior Jail Superintendent Viresh Raj Sharma told news agency ANI that Rastogi and Shukla are being kept in separate barracks, specifically maintained for men and women, adding that there is no contact between the two sections.

"Yesterday, Muskan wanted to meet me, I called her. She said that her family is upset and won't fight her case. So, she be provided a government Defense counsel. We are sending a plea to the court because it is the right of the inmate," Sharma said.

Muskan, Sahil have ‘drug addiction issues’

Additionally, both the alleged murderers have also been diagnosed with drug addiction issues, with Rastogi demanding morphine injections in jail and Shukla raving for marijuana. The duo also refused food, a sign common in those undergoing drug withdrawals.

Jail superintendent Sharma said that both are being treated with medicines for their withdrawal symptoms and also through de-addiction centres.

Rastogi and Shukla are also being given counselling and sent for Yoga and meditation sessions. "We are trying to ensure that common inmates stay away from them and not ask about their case again and again," Sharma added.

Rastogi's father, Pramod, was the one who took her to the police station to make her confess to the crime. Though she initially had given her parents vague answers, Rastogi eventually admitted to killing her husband when they pressed her to tell the truth.

In fact, Pramod emphasised on capital punishment for his daughter's "very wrong' actions. A news agency ANI report cited him as saying, "The verdict, in this case, should come fast, and I don't want anything less than capital punishment for her. What she did is very wrong...my son-in-law should get justice."