Smriti Singh, wife of the late Captain Anshuman Singh, who was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra for his heroic sacrifice in saving fellow army personnel from a fire at Siachen, fondly recalled their love story. President Droupadi Murmu, the supreme commander of the armed forces, presented her with the award on Friday, India’s second highest peacetime gallantry honor.
Reflecting on their initial meeting, Smriti Singh shared, “We met on the first day of college. It wasn’t dramatic, but it was love at first sight. A month later, he was selected for Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). We met in an engineering college, and he got into medical college – he was a super intelligent guy. After just one month of meeting, we maintained a long-distance relationship for eight years before deciding to get married.”
They married in February 2023 after Captain Singh graduated from AFMC.
Recalling their last conversation, Smriti added, “Unfortunately, just two months after our marriage, he was posted to Siachen. On July 18, we talked about our life together in the next 50 years – building a home, having children, everything. The next morning, I received the call that he was no longer with us.”
The incident occurred in July 2023 when a fire broke out due to a short circuit at an Indian Army ammunition depot in Siachen around 3am. Captain Singh courageously rescued fellow soldiers trapped in a fibre-glass hut, and while trying to retrieve life-saving medicines from a nearby shelter, he suffered fatal burns.
Describing the initial shock and ongoing trauma, Smriti explained, “For the first 7-8 hours, we couldn’t accept what had happened. Even now, I struggle to come to terms with it, hoping it’s not true. Holding the Kirti Chakra now, I know it is. But he’s a hero. We manage because he sacrificed so much – his life and his family’s future – to save three other army families.”
