'It Was Love At First Sight': Widow Of Soldier Killed In Siachen Fire Shares Their Heartbreaking Story

It is a poignant image that can warm even the coldest of hearts. Dressed in a white sari, Smriti Singh — the wife of Captain Anshuman Singh who died while saving his fellow army men from a fire at Siachen — was a picture of exceptional bravery and resilience as she accepted the Kirti Chakra, India’s second-highest peacetime gallantry award, from President Droupadi Murmu on Friday.

A short clip that is going viral on social media shows Smriti Singh and Captain Singh’s mother receive the award from the President. The video shows Smriti fold her hands as a voiceover extols her late husband’s sacrifice.

In a post of social networking site X, President Murmu said: “Disregarding his own safety, he exhibited exceptional bravery and resolve to rescue many people in a major fire incident.”

It was in July 2023 that a short circuit led to a fire in an Indian Army ammunition dump at Siachen around 3am. As the dump caught fire, Captain Singh helped rescue those stuck inside a fibre-glass hut. When the blaze spread to a nearby medical investigation shelter, Captain Singh, in an attempt to retrieve the life-saving medicine inside. Unfortunately, he suffered severe burns and passed away.

“He was very capable. He would tell me that I will die with brass in my chest. I will not die an ordinary death,” Smriti Singh said.

Recalling her love story, she said: “We met on the first day of our engineering college. Not to be dramatic but it was love at first sight. A month later, he was selected in Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). He was a super intelligent guy. After that, it was a long-distance relationship for eight long years and then we thought we should get married now so we did.”

She added: “Unfortunately, within two months of marriage, he got posted to Siachen. On July 18, we had a long conversation about how our life will be in the next 50 years — we would build a house, have kids. On the morning of 19th I get a call that he is no more. For the first 7-8 hours, we could not accept that anything like this could have happened. Till date, I am trying to cope up… thinking maybe it is not true. Now that I have the Kirti Chakra in my hand, I realise it is true. But it’s okay, he is a hero. We can manage a little of our lives because he has managed a lot. He gave up his life and family so that the other three families could be saved.

The couple got married in February last year after Captain Singh graduated from AFMC.