Leh: In June 2020, Lance Naik Shahid Deepak Singh was killed in a skirmish with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). This was just 15 months into their marriage. Rekha Singh, his wife, has now decided to carry forward his legacy by becoming a lieutenant in the Indian army.
Her husband was also posthumously awarded the hallowed Vir Chakra by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Speaking to ANI, Rekha Singh said: “It was my husband’s dream that pushed me to strive hard to make it to the Indian Army. I made up my mind to leave my job as a teacher and become an officer in the Army”.
In another interview, she also explained that it was very difficult for her to prepare for her entrance exams. She, in fact, failed in her first attempt. But she studied hard and cleared the exam on her second attempt.
It is heart-warming to see army wives taking up the responsibilities of carrying forward their husband’s legacy. In November last year, Jyoti Nainwal, wife of martyred soldier Deepak Nainwal, became a Lieutenant of the Indian Army after she passed out of the Officers’ Training Academy in Chennai. She decided to join the Indian Army as a Lieutenant after three years of her husband’s death.
Nikita Kaul is another epitome of grit and strength. In 2021, Nikita Kaul, wife of Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, who was martyred in the Pulwama attack, decided to carry forward her husband’s legacy and joined the Indian Army.
Sushmita Pandey had lost her husband in a landslide during Operation Rhino in 2016. Her husband, Major Neeraj Pandey served in Indian Army’s Corps of Signals. After almost two years of that horrifying incident, Sushmita joined the Indian army as a Lieutenant in the same corps her husband had served.
Another woman worth mentioning is Dimple Cheema. She is a woman with tremendous guts, who choose to remain unmarried after the love of her life was martyred in the Kargil war of 1999. Read more about her here.
