Muskaan Rastogi and her boyfriend Sahil Shukla threw a party on Sahil's birthday and went on a six-day trip to Kasol, Himachal Pradesh, before murdering her husband. The couple was not normal and didn't venture out of their room, says hotel staff where they were staying.
This comes just a few days after Muskaan's husband, Saurabh Rajput, a former merchant navy officer, was brutally killed. The accused spent March 10 to March 16 at Hotel Purnima in an attempt to create an alibi.
The country has been left shocked by the heinous act and the couple's reckless escape into the hills.
Muskaan and Sahil drugged, killed, and hacked to pieces Saurabh, who had come back from London to attend his daughter's birthday. His bones were found jammed in a plastic drum filled with cement after a week of his kidnapping.
The duo booked Room 203 with their driver and behaved abnormally while staying there, Hotel Purnima proprietor Aman informed IANS.
They did not engage with the staff, rarely left the room, and never requested the room to be cleaned. Even Sahil's birthday, on March 11, was celebrated inside the room, Aman said.
"Throughout these six days, they never communicated with hotel staff members or asked that the room be cleaned. Even their meals was ordered inside the room throughout these six days," he added.
As per Aman, Sahil initially asserted that Muskaan was his wife when he produced only his own identification. He also showed Muskaan's identification when the hotel staff asked for it. The two claimed to have been in Manali before they left for Kasol and planned to return to Uttar Pradesh.
Muskaan and Sahil tried to conceal their identity by telling Saurabh's family that he had departed to a foreign land after checking out on March 16. Saurabh's family, however, grew suspicious and lodged a complaint with the authorities when they spent all their money and couldn't keep up the charade.
Muskaan and Sahil both confessed to the crime while being interrogated.
As per investigations, Saurabh and Muskaan got married out of love in 2016 and a daughter was born to them in 2019. The marriage was economically strained due to Saurabh's decision to leave his career in the Merchant Navy and settle in London as a bakery employee.
Muskaan was provided with money frequently by her relatives, and Saurabh was an alcoholic that made their situation even more horrific.
Fights between the duo increased after he returned to India on February 24. On February 25, Muskaan and Sahil attempted to kill Saurabh for the first time unsuccessfully. They were successful in executing their nefarious plan a few days later.
The mutilated bones of Saurabh were discovered in a drum, but the hardened cement had to be drilled with a drill machine.
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