- Sunday, March 23, 2025
The body solidified in the cement inside the drum and did not rot due to lack of air. The drum had to be cut open and the hardened cement removed to retrieve the body
By: India Weekly
THE POST-MORTEM of former merchant navy officer Saurabh Rajput shows extreme brutality with which he was killed allegedly by his wife Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla.
His head was severed from the body, both hands were cut off from the wrist and his legs were bent backwards, suggesting an attempt to fit the body in a drum, the autopsy report disclosed.
The cause of death has been attributed to shock and excessive bleeding.
Rajput was allegedly drugged and then stabbed to death by his wife and her lover on March 4, his body dismembered and sealed inside a drum with cement.
The duo then went on a vacation to Himachal Pradesh, all the while misleading Rajput’s family by sending them messages from his phone.
The matter was reported to police on March 18, following which Muskan and Sahil were arrested.
Doctors who conducted the post-mortem reported that Rajput was stabbed in the heart with extreme force thrice, indicating a sustained and violent attack.
“The blows from the sharp long knife pierced deep inside the heart,” one of the doctors said.
Superintendent of Police (City) Ayush Vikram Singh confirmed the postmortem findings.
“Muskaan brutally stabbed Saurabh in his heart, puncturing it. His neck was severed and both palms were cut off. The body was cut up into four pieces to fit it in the drum,” the officer said.
The medical team further detailed the gruesome attempt to conceal the body.
“It was put in the drum and then filled with dust and cement. The body solidified in the cement and did not rot due to lack of air. The smell was not extremely foul,” a member of the post-mortem team disclosed.
The drum had to be cut open and the hardened cement painstakingly removed to retrieve the body.
Muskan and Rajput got married in 2016 against his family’s wishes, following a relationship and they had a six-year-old daughter.
Muskan and Sahil had known each other since school and reconnected via a WhatsApp group in 2019, police said.
Rajput’s family has claimed that Muskan’s behaviour was concerning from the beginning as she neglected household duties and allegedly took to drugs.
Attempt to cover tracks
Muskan and Sahil stayed in Himachal’s Kasol for six days after committing the gruesome act, to cover their tracks, before returning to Meerut on March 17.
At Kasol, they checked into a hotel and introduced themselves as husband and wife. They stayed for six days, and left on March 16.
Hotel operator Aman Kumar said on Saturday that usually, tourists come to Kasol to see new places and enjoy the scenic beauty of the place, but this couple stayed in their room (203) the whole day and only went out once a day in the car, which was unusual, he said.
They did not meet anybody, did not allow hotel staff to clean the room and had minimum interaction with the staff, Aman Kumar said.
During check-out, the couple told the hotel operator that they had come from Manali and would go back to Uttar Pradesh. (PTI)
