Captain Anshuman Singh's widow Smriti Singh recalls their last conversation: 'On July 18… Next day, he died'

Smriti Singh, wife of late Captain Anshuman Singh, received Kirti Chakra posthumously for the ultimate sacrifice Singh made to save fellow army personnel.

"It was love at first sight," recalled Smriti Singh - the wife of late Captain Anshuman Singh who was awarded Kirti Chakra posthumously for the ultimate sacrifice in saving the life of his fellow army men from a fire at Siachen.

Captain Anshuman Singh (right) and his widow Smriti Singh.

Smriti Singh received the award from President Droupadi Murmu, the supreme commander of the armed forces, on Friday. Kirti Chakra is India's second highest peacetime gallantry award.

Recalling their love story, Smriti Singh said, “We met on the first day of our college. I would not be dramatic, but it was love at first sight. After a month, he got selected into Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). We met in an engineering college, and he got selected into a medical college, super intelligent guy. After just one month of meeting, it was a long-distance relationship for eight long years and then we thought we should get married now so we did.”

The couple got married in February 2023 after Captain Singh graduated from AFMC.

Recollecting their conversations, Smriti 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 are going to build a house, we are going to have kids, what not. On 19th morning, I get up, I get a call that he is no more."

The accident

In July 2023, a short circuit led to a fire accident in an Indian Army ammunition dump at Siachen around 3am. As the dump caught fire, Captain Singh helped rescue fellow army personnel stuck inside a fibre-glass hut. The blaze further spread to a nearby medical investigation shelter. Captain Singh, in an attempt to retrieve life-saving medicines from the shelter, suffered severe burns and passed away.

Explaining trauma that stuck her family, Smriti explained that “For the first 7-8 hours, we could not accept that anything of that sort has happened. Till date, I am not coping up. Just trying to figure out thinking maybe it is not true. But 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 army families could be saved.”