Meerut: Once a respected family in Meerut’s Indiranagar, the Rastogis now live behind locked doors — ostracised, humiliated, and weighed down by the shame of their daughter’s crime. Eight months after Muskan Rastogi and her lover allegedly murdered her husband Saurabh Rajput, her parents have decided to sell their home and leave the city for good.
On Wednesday, “house for sale” posters were seen on the walls of their residence. The signs, which quickly went viral on social media, symbolised the final step in a family’s collapse under the weight of infamy. By Thursday morning, the posters were gone — removed by Muskan’s father, jeweller Pramod Kumar Rastogi, who told reporters, “There are only painful memories left here. We want to move out and start afresh.”
The once-bustling jewellery shop outside their house now lies deserted. Locals say business has dried up since March, when the gruesome murder shook the city. “No one goes there anymore. His old customers stopped visiting and those who owed him money refuse to pay,” said a neighbour.
Muskan’s younger sister, who gave tuition classes at home, also lost all her students after the crime. “Parents withdrew their children overnight,” a resident said. “The family has been completely boycotted.”
The stigma has not only ruined their livelihood but also broken family ties. During a recent wedding in their extended family, Pramod’s name was deliberately removed from the invitation card. Relatives have distanced themselves, fearing association with the disgraced family. Locals say the humiliation has taken a toll on Pramod’s mental health.
“He barely talks now and often behaves oddly,” a neighbour said.
The murder on March 3 remains one of Meerut’s most chilling crimes. According to police, Muskan and her lover Sahil Shukla allegedly killed Saurabh Rajput, chopped his body into pieces, and sealed the remains in a cement-filled drum before fleeing to Himachal Pradesh. They were arrested weeks later and are now lodged in Chaudhary Charan Singh District Jail, where Muskan is reportedly pregnant. Saurabh’s family has accused the Rastogis of trying to sell a house built using money he sent from London. “This house was made from Saurabh’s earnings. They have no right to sell it,” said Saurabh’s brother, Rahul alias Bablu.