Stories
Muskan Rastogi Faces Death Penalty In Meerut Murder Case But Execution Uncertain
- •Muskan Rastogi and her partner Sahil were sentenced to death for the brutal Meerut blue drum murder case.
- •Issuing a death sentence to a female convict is an extremely rare judicial event in Indian legal history, with only one official execution of a woman recorded since 1947.
- •Superior courts in India nearly always commute female death sentences to life imprisonment during subsequent appeal stages.
- •Precedents like the Gavit sisters and Shabnam Ali show that lengthy appellate proceedings, mercy petitions, and systemic delays often prevent female capital punishment from being carried out.
- •The death sentence must now be submitted to the High Court for confirmation, and the convicts retain full rights to appeal the verdict in higher courts.
Key Questions Answered
Muskan Rastogi and her partner Sahil were sentenced to death for the calculated conspiracy, extreme violence, and premeditated murder of Saurabh Rajput, whose body was dismembered and concealed inside a blue drum filled with cement in Meerut.
While trial courts occasionally issue death sentences for heinous crimes, female executions are extraordinarily rare in India, with only one recorded execution since 1947. Furthermore, superior appellate courts routinely commute death sentences for female convicts to life imprisonment during subsequent appeal stages.
Under Indian criminal procedure, the death sentence must be formally submitted to the relevant High Court for confirmation. Both convicts retain the right to challenge the verdict through appeals in the High Court and subsequently the Supreme Court of India.
