Meerut Courts Hand Death Sentences in Two Separate Murder Cases
Meerut's courts handed down capital punishment in two notable murder cases this week. Muskan Rastogi and her boyfriend Sahil Shukla were sentenced to death in what became known as the 'blue drum' murder case, while a district court also condemned a man and his lover for strangling the woman's husband, Amit, and staging the killing to resemble a death by snakebite.
Death Sentences in the 'Blue Drum' Murder Case
A court in Meerut sentenced Muskan Rastogi, aged 26, and her boyfriend Sahil Shukla, aged 28, to death for the murder of Rastogi's husband. The two were convicted on 30 September by the Meerut city court for a killing that took place in 2025. The BBC, which carried a content warning that details of the case may be distressing to readers, described the crime as the 'blue drum' murder case. A photograph published alongside the BBC report showed Shukla and Rastogi standing behind police officers at a press conference, with the image credited to Meerut Police. The conviction on 30 September preceded the formal sentencing announcement. Both individuals were found guilty of the 2025 murder of Rastogi's husband, with Rastogi identified as 26 and Shukla as 28 at the time of sentencing. The case attracted national media attention across India. The BBC's report identified the crime by the method that gave it its distinctive 'blue drum' designation in news coverage, though both killers were prosecuted and found guilty for a husband's murder carried out by his wife and her companion. [2]
Couple Sentenced to Death for Staging Husband's Death as Snakebite
A district court in Meerut sentenced a man and his lover to death on Friday, 16 October 2026, for the murder of her husband, Amit, in a case built around a calculated attempt to disguise the crime as a snakebite death. The couple strangled Amit and then placed a live snake on his bed with the intent of making the killing appear to be the result of a natural snakebite. The male convict, identified as Amardeep in the Deccan Herald's report, was responsible for leaving the snake at the scene after the murder. The Deccan Herald updated its report on 16 October 2026, with coverage credited to journalist Sanjay Pandey dispatching from Lucknow. The court's finding treated the deliberate staging as aggravating the gravity of the offence, with capital punishment handed down for what was characterised as a premeditated conspiracy. The case adds to a concentration of high-profile criminal judgments from Meerut-area courts in mid-October 2026. The use of a live snake positioned at the crime scene was central to both the police investigation and the prosecution's presentation before the court. [10]
Sources: [2] BBC · [10] Deccan Herald