Meerut: The Meerut murder accused, Muskan Rastogi, who killed her husband and stuffed his body inside a drum, has been found pregnant during a routine medical health check-up in jail, officials said on Monday.
Senior Jail Superintendent Viresh Raj Sharma told PTI that all newly admitted female inmates undergo regular health and pregnancy screenings, and Muskan’s test was part of this standard process. While the official report is still awaited, Sharma said he has received verbal confirmation of the pregnancy, according to the PTI news agency.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Ashok Kataria said that a preliminary test confirmed Muskan's pregnancy. An ultrasound will be conducted next to determine the condition and duration of the pregnancy.
Muskan and her alleged partner, Sahil, are accused of killing her husband, former Merchant Navy officer Saurabh Rajput, on the night of March 4 at their home in Meerut’s Indiranagar. Police say the duo drugged and fatally stabbed him, then gruesomely dismembered the body, hiding the severed parts in a blue drum filled with cement.
According to Superintendent of Police (Meerut City) Ayush Vikram Singh, "Muskan created a Snapchat account and convinced Sahil that his dead mother was speaking to him through it." She allegedly used this tactic to manipulate and control Sahil, ultimately persuading him to help carry out the murder.
The officer further said, "On March 4, Muskan allegedly drugged Saurabh’s food, leaving him unconscious. Sahil then joined her, and they stabbed Saurabh to death. They then dismembered his body in the bathroom, using a razor and knife."
The next day, the duo reportedly bought a plastic drum, cement, and sand to hide the severed remains. "They concealed the body parts in the drum and left for a trip to Shimla, returning on March 17," the SP added.
Police say the couple had planned the crime since November 2023. Muskan allegedly purchased medicines to sedate her husband and also arranged the murder weapons. When their attempt to stuff the body into a bag failed, they decided to use the drum. Before the murder, they had sent Saurabh’s six-year-old daughter to her grandmother’s house.
Both she and Sahil are currently in judicial custody.
Muskan has been assigned sewing duties in jail, while Sahil is working in the prison’s agricultural section. They have also been enrolled in a rehabilitation programme with support from a drug de-addiction centre.