E-Paper
Meerut murder: How Muskan convinced Sahil she was his dead mother? Texts revealed
In one of the message, Muskan Rastogi told her boyfriend that: “Shakti (power) will protect you”.
Muskan Rastogi, who is accused of killing her husband Saurabh Rajput with the help of her lover Sahil Shukla, convinced him that his dead mother spoke to him through her. She sent several messages from her Snapchat accounts posing as his dead mother.
In one of the chats, Muskan told her boyfriend that "Shakti (power) will protect you", reported NDTV. She also told Sahil about a "Gudiya", "bahu" (daughter in law) – a reference to herself.
"Your bahu has passed. She is now a part of the family. I am very happy. Now no one can defeat our bahu. He (Saurabh) is destined to die at Muskaan's hands," one of the messages accessed by the channel reads. HT can't verify the report.
Muskaan Rastogi used three Snapchat accounts to convince her boyfriend, Sahil Shukla, to join the plot to murder her husband.
From one of the accounts, she would communicate with Sahil Shukla in a way that made him believe that his dead mother was speaking to him.
Also Read | Meerut murder: Sahil used victim Saurabh Rajput’s money to gamble, say sources
The murder case
Muskaan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla, both 27, were arrested on March 18, hours after the body of 29-year-old Saurabh Rajput was found stuffed inside a drum that was filled up with dust, cement, and water.
The suspects allegedly mixed sedatives in Rajput’s food before killing him on March 4, after he returned from London where he worked in the merchant navy at a US-based shipping company.
Also Read | ‘Family upset with me’: Meerut murder accused Muskan Rastogi requests for govt defense counsel
According to the police, Muskaan Rastogi got into a relationship with her neighbour Shukla when Rajput got a job in the UK in 2020, leaving his wife and daughter in Meerut.
After murdering Saurabh Rajput and cutting his body into 15 pieces while her 5-year-old daughter slept in the next room, Muskaan Rastogi left her daughter at her parents’ home and went to Shimla with Sahil Shukla.
The matter was reported to police on March 18, following which they were arrested.
