Meerut blue drum murder: Accused Muskan Rastogi gives birth in custody

BAREILLY: Undertrial Muskan Rastogi, lodged in Meerut district jail for the gruesome murder of her husband Saurabh Rajput and hiding his body in a blue drum, gave birth to a girl at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College on Monday evening. Muskan has named her Radha, even as her deceased husband’s family insisted on a DNA test, officials said on Wednesday.Jail authorities said the inmate’s daughter will spend the first six years of her life in the jail. SSP (Jail) Viresh Raj Sharma told TOI, “The infant will stay with Muskan, as prison rules allow children of female inmates to stay in jail until the age of six. Basic facilities, including nutrition, medical care and other childcare arrangements will be provided inside the women’s barracks. Once Radha turns three, she will be enrolled in a pre-school under a supervised programme with escorted visits outside the jail. At six, a court will decide whether she would be handed over to relatives or placed under state care.” Meanwhile, her deceased husband’s family insisted on a DNA test to determine whether the baby is Saurabh Rajput’s or her lover Sahil Shukla’s. District govt counsel (crime) Krishna Kumar Chaubey told TOI. “As of now, no DNA sampling request has been made before the court.”“The murder case in the court is at the evidence stage, and testimonies of almost all witnesses have been recorded in the court. We will soon take the case to the final stage.”