Meerut: Eight months after the shocking murder of Saurabh Rajput, the parents of accused Muskan Rastogi have become outcasts in their own neighbourhood. Ashamed of their daughter’s deeds and facing social boycott, the family has put up their Indiranagar house for sale.
On Wednesday, “House for Sale” posters appeared on the walls of their residence. The posters went viral on social media, prompting Muskan’s father, jeweller Pramod Kumar Rastogi, to remove them. Police officials confirmed the development, saying no written complaint had been received yet.
“There are only painful memories left here. We want to move out and start afresh,” Muskan’s father, Pramod Rastogi, told reporters. His wife Kavita and son Rahul echoed his sentiments, saying their social and financial conditions had worsened since the March 3 incident.
According to neighbours, Pramod’s mental health has deteriorated since the incident. Once a well-known jeweller in the locality, his business collapsed after the murder due to the family’s defamed reputation. “No one visits his shop anymore, and those who owed him money have stopped paying,” said a resident.
Muskan’s younger sister, who earlier earned around Rs 15,000 a month by giving tuition at home, also lost her students as parents refused to send their children there after the crime.
On March 3, Muskan and her lover Sahil Shukla allegedly murdered her husband, Saurabh Rajput. The couple chopped the body into pieces, concealed it in a drum filled with cement, and fled to Himachal Pradesh. They were later arrested and sent to judicial custody. Both are currently lodged in Chaudhary Charan Singh District Jail in Meerut, where Muskan is reportedly pregnant.
Adding to the family’s distress, even relatives have severed ties. During a recent family wedding, Pramod’s name was reportedly removed from the invitation card. “The humiliation is unbearable. He barely speaks to anyone now,” said a neighbour, adding that Pramod has shown signs of mental imbalance and is often seen behaving erratically.
Meanwhile, Saurabh’s family has accused the Rastogis of trying to sell a property built with Saurabh’s money. “This house was constructed with the funds Saurabh sent from London. They have no right to sell it,” said Saurabh’s brother Rahul alias Bablu.
Rahul has also demanded a DNA test of Muskan’s unborn child. “If the DNA confirms the baby is Saurabh’s, we will accept the child. Otherwise, we will not,” he said.
Muskan’s father and family, once respected in the locality, now live in silence behind closed doors — weighed down by guilt, stigma, and the unbearable burden of a daughter’s unforgivable crime.
A police official said Sahil is engaged in agricultural work inside the jail. Only his brother and grandmother visit him, while Muskan’s family has cut all ties with her.
