The man beside Nikita Kaul reached behind his dark glasses as if to wipe away a tear.
It was hard to tell if he was indeed crying, but what he had just seen Nikita do would have broken the stoutest of hearts.
She looked quietly inside the coffin bearing the handsome, smiling photo of her late husband, Major VS Dhoundiyal, blew him a kiss, and bent over to tell him, “I love you.”
They were married less than a year ago.
#WATCH Wife of Major VS Dhoundiyal (who lost his life in an encounter in Pulwama yesterday) by his mortal remains. #Dehradun #Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/5HWD6RXwnO
— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2019
Thousands came to their Dehradun home on Tuesday to pay their last respects to Major Dhoundiyal, who died fighting terrorists in Pulwama.
Three other Army soldiers and a policemen died in the encounter, in which three terrorists were killed.
At a news conference in Sringar, 15 Corps Commander KJS Dhillon said that during the encounter, the commanders had led the operation from the front.
Cries of “Shaheed Dhoundiyal Amar Rahein” and “Vande Mataram” were heard in Dehradun as Trivendra Singh Rawat, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, placed a wreath on Major VS Dhoundiyal’s coffin.
His body, draped in the tricolour, was brought home late on Monday night. His funeral will be conducted with full military honours in Haridwar later today.
