Muskan Rastogi Death Sentence: More than a year after the Meerut blue drum murder case came to light, a court in Meerut on Wednesday sentenced Muskan Rastogi and her partner, Sahil Shukla, to death for murdering her husband, Saurabh Rajput. They dismembered his body and hid it inside a blue drum filled with cement.
Rajput, a Merchant Navy officer, was killed on March 3, 2025. His body was found around two weeks later.
The death penalty is one of the harshest punishments under Indian law. However, executions are rare, as the law allows several levels of appeal and review before a death sentence can be carried out. The execution of women is even rarer.
The verdict came after 126 hearings over a 13-month trial. Muskan's death sentence has raised an important question: How many women in India have been sentenced to death, and how many are still waiting for their cases to be decided?
How many women have been sentenced to death in India?
According to a report by The Indian Express, 21 women in India have been sentenced to death. Their cases involve different crimes, including terrorism, honour killings and the murder of family members.
Some of these women have spent more than a decade on death row, while others are still fighting their cases in court. In several cases, appeals are pending before High Courts or the Supreme Court. Some women have also filed mercy petitions.
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Here is a look at five of these cases:
1. Shabnam
In 2008, Shabnam was convicted of murdering seven members of her family, including her parents, with the help of her partner. The Supreme Court upheld her death sentence, and her review petition was dismissed. Her mercy petition was also rejected. However, she has not been executed.
2. Fehmida Sayyed
Fehmida Sayyed was convicted for her role in the 2003 serial bomb blasts near Mumbai's Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar. The Bombay High Court confirmed her death sentence. The latest status of her case before the Supreme Court needs to be verified.
3. Sonam Dagar
In 2009, Sonam Dagar was sentenced to death for murdering several family members with her partner. The High Court upheld the sentence, but the Supreme Court stayed her execution in 2018.
4. Kiran Bai
Kiran Bai was convicted in 2010 of kidnapping and murdering a two-year-old child, allegedly as part of a ritual sacrifice. The High Court upheld her death sentence in 2014, and the Supreme Court dismissed her appeal. Her mercy petition is reportedly pending.
5. Greeshma
Greeshma was sentenced to death for poisoning and murdering her boyfriend. Her appeal against the conviction and death sentence has reportedly been pending before the Kerala High Court since 2025.
According to the report, nine of the 21 women sentenced to death are from Uttar Pradesh.
Other women on death row are from Kerala, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The cases are at different stages of the judicial process. In some, the High Court has yet to confirm the death sentence imposed by the trial court. In others, appeals or mercy petitions remain pending.
There are 16 other cases still ongoing cases where the most common type of case among the 21 women on death row is murder of family members involving spouses, children, in-laws, parents, siblings, etc.
Why have these women not been executed yet?
In India, a death sentence passed by a trial court cannot be carried out immediately. The High Court must first confirm the sentence.
After that, the convicted person may approach the Supreme Court and seek further legal remedies, including review and curative petitions, where applicable. A mercy petition may also be filed with the appropriate authority.
These legal steps can take years to complete. As a result, a person may remain on death row for a long time before the final decision is made.
The same process applies to Muskan Rastogi. Her death sentence does not mean she will be executed immediately. The sentence must first go through the required legal process, including confirmation by the High Court.
This is why several women sentenced to death in India have remained on death row for years.
Only one woman executed so far
Rattan Bai Jain was the first woman executed by hanging in independent India having been hanged at Tihar Jail on January 3, 1955.
Jain was convicted in a case involving the poisoning and killing of three girls. As per the case, she reportedly suspected the girls of having relationships with her husband and poisoned their food or drinks.
After her appeals and mercy pleas were rejected, she was hanged on January 3, 1955.
Her execution remains a rare example of capital punishment being carried out against a woman in India.