New Delhi: It's not easy to survive without your husband at such a young age, says a wife of Indian Army veteran Capt Shalini Singh while recalling the moment she got the news of her husband martyrdom.
The former army captain and mother to a 16-year-old was crowned ‘Classic Mrs India Queen of Substance’ for 2017 Shalini said that her father-in-law got a call from her husband- Major Avinash Singh Bhadauria's unit that his son got some injuries during an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
"As we are already aware of the Army procedure while calling the family members of the martyred soldiers. We were told that Major Avinash got bullet injuries at his chest. But, that very moment we were damn sure that Avinash is no more", said the wife of martyred Major.
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Shalini’s world had changed forever when her husband, Major Avinash was martyred in an encounter with terrorists in Kashmir. The brave 29-year-old soldier had eliminated four terrorists before succumbing to his wounds.
At 23, Shalini found herself widowed. Her two-year-old son had lost his father.
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Although she lost her husband at such a young age, she opted to join the defence forces. On the 7th of September, 2002, twenty days short of her husband’s first death anniversary, she was commissioned as an officer in the Indian Army.
"I was wearing an Army uniform while receiving India’s second-highest gallantry award 'Kirti Chakra' on 26 January 2002. He got this award for displaying exceptional valour in the presence of the enemy", added the proud wife of Major Bhaduria.
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