NEW DELHI: As a hesitant Muskan sat on the chest of her unconscious husband, her lover Sahil handed her a knife and showed her how to wield it. “You have to stab him in the heart three times,” he instructed her with a promise of a new life.
Sahil, along with his lover Muskan Rastogi, stands accused of the murder of Muskan’s husband, former Merchant Navy officer Saurabh Rajput.
Room filled with satanic symbols
Sahil’s room offered a glimpse into his dark and disturbing psyche. A dimly lit space with broken walls, filled with satanic symbols, cigarette boxes, and artwork depicting drug consumption. The victim’s family believe that Sahil’s obsession with the occult played a role in the murder, with Saurabh Rajput’s mother, Renu Devi, claiming that her son was killed as part of a tantric ritual.
In Sahil’s room a bed sheet covered the window, and a sofa stood against the wall. Among the graffiti was a message: “You can’t trip with us.” The room had liquor cans scattered.
‘Made Muskan an addict’
On March 4, Rajput was allegedly drugged, stabbed, dismembered, and his remains sealed inside a cement-filled drum. Muskan and Sahil then embarked on a vacation to Himachal Pradesh, using Saurabh’s phone to mislead his family. The crime was discovered two weeks later when Muskan finally confessed to her parents, who then informed the police.
Police sources told news agency PTI suggest that Sahil exercised psychological control over Muskan, isolating her from her six-year-old daughter and turning her into an addict. Muskan’s parents accused him of trapping her in his web of superstitions. Neighbours also recalled his eerie behaviour—wearing kurtas with ‘Mahakal’ inscriptions, feeding stray cats, and keeping his room shrouded in darkness. Sketches of ominous figures adorned his walls, reinforcing his unsettling presence.
“Sahil’s occult practices dominated Muskaan’s mind in such a way that she started keeping her six-year-old daughter away. Sahil had made Muskaan an addict and completely superstitious,” the victim’s mother said.
‘Directed her to stab Saurabh’s heart thrice’
Muskan, in her statement to police, admitted that Sahil coerced her into committing the murder. He allegedly told her, “You have to kill Saurabh if we are to start a new life.” On the night of the crime, he directed Muskan to sit on Saurabh’s chest before handing her a knife. When she hesitated, he guided her hand to stab her unconscious husband three times in the heart.
“Sahil got Muskan to kill her husband. First, he made her sit on Saurabh’s chest. Then he brought a knife from the kitchen, showed her how to wield it and directed her to insert the knife in Saurabh’s heart thrice,” the source told PTI.
Investigations also revealed that Muskan manipulated Sahil by creating a fake Snapchat ID impersonating his deceased mother. Through this, she convinced him that his mother wanted Saurabh dead.
Investigators uncovered that Muskan and Sahil had reconnected in 2019 through a school WhatsApp group, reigniting an old relationship. By November 2023, Muskan had allegedly begun plotting Saurabh’s murder, PTI reported. Before his return from London in February, she purchased sedatives and knives under the guise of needing them to cut chicken. She also attempted to find a location to dispose of the body.
SP City Ayush Vikram Singh revealed that Saurabh had been estranged from his family since marrying Muskan, which she believed would help cover up his disappearance. Ultimately, her plan failed, and both she and Sahil now face trial for a crime that investigators say was as gruesome as it was methodically planned.