Meerut News: Uttar Pradesh's city, Meerut, had created headlines over the infidelity that led to the murder of husbands by wives and their lovers in March-April 2025. One of them, the 'Blue Drum' case, remained in the news for a long time because of the gruesome nature of the case. The second case was also shocking as the woman attempted to stage the murder as a snakebite case. Now, both cases have reached a conclusion as the court announced its verdicts.
What Was The Snake Case?
A Meerut court on Friday sentenced a woman and her lover to death for killing her husband and leaving a live snake beside his body to make it look like a case of snakebite. Additional District and Sessions Judge Jaiveer Singh Nagar awarded the death penalty to Ravita and Amardeep for the murder of Amit Kashyap alias Mikky Kashyap, a resident of Akbarpur Sadat village.
Amit was found dead on a cot in his house on April 13 last year and a live snake was found beside his body. His family initially suspected that he died due to a snakebite. However, the post-mortem examination found injury marks on his neck and nose, and that he died of strangulation. Based on the post-mortem reports, the police established the motive of the murder and arrested both accused.
What Is 'Blue Drum' Murder Case?
A woman, Muskan Rastogi, with the help of her lover Sahil Shukla, murdered her husband, merchant navy officer Saurabh Rajput. Saurabh's dismembered body was concealed in a blue drum filled with cement. Saurabh was killed on March 3, 2025. The case came to light about a fortnight later when the remains were discovered in the drum, giving the matter its moniker of the "blue drum" murder. Police registered an FIR on March 18, 2025, at Brahmpuri police station. They recovered the remains based on information provided by the accused and later filed a chargesheet.
District Judge Arvind Kumar Mishra pronounced the death sentence for Muskan and Sahil after a 13-month trial involving 126 hearings. The court also invoked the Mahabharata while discussing the duty to punish offenders. District Government Counsel KK Chaubey said the judge observed that punishing those guilty of grave crimes was also a matter of dharma.
Describing the crime as "extremely cruel and grave", he said the court considered stringent punishment necessary to prevent similar offences. Muskan and Sahil were convicted on September 30 for murder and attempting to conceal the crime.
They were produced before the court separately through video conferencing amid a large gathering at the court complex. The verdict brought relief to Saurabh's family, which had sought the death penalty for both accused.
(With PTI Inputs)