Meerut court sentences Muskan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla to death for the "blue drum" murder of her husband
A Meerut court on Wednesday sentenced Muskan Rastogi and her partner Sahil Shukla to death for the murder of her husband Saurabh Rajput, in the case known as the blue drum murder (The Hindu, Hindustan Times, The Times of India, NDTV, Mint, Moneycontrol, News18, BBC Hindi). Mint and NDTV report that the judge referred to the Mahabharata and the Gita's idea of dharma while passing sentence. AajTak reports that the two broke down on hearing the order, and Hindustan Times quotes their advocate as saying they were shocked. We have seen no report of an appeal.
Death sentences in India are rare and are reviewed. A trial court's order has to be confirmed by the High Court before it can be carried out, and the convicts can appeal, so this is the start of the legal process on sentence, not the end.
Nothing changes for readers. The case will be debated for what it says about sentencing and about how courts explain their reasoning.
The judge's reasoning is what will be argued next. Watch the filing of an appeal and the High Court's confirmation proceedings, and read the judgment for the facts on which death was chosen.
DailyDrop India edition No. 11 · Morning · THU., OCT. 15, 2026