Lance Naik Ranjeet Singh Bhutyal waited for 10 years to see the birth of his first child. Alas! He was killed in a battle with militants in Jammu and Kashmir a day before his beautiful baby daughter was born.
On October 22, Ranjeet was supposed to come back to Ramban village in Jammu and Kashmir to visit his pregnant wife and see the birth of their child. He was supposed to be on a two-month leave. However, it was his body that returned. His wife delivered a baby girl just a few hours prior to his funeral, where he was laid to rest with full military honours.
Shimpu Devi developed labour pains on Monday night and was admitted to the Ramban hospital and then at 4 in the morning delivered her daughter. Soon after that, Devi and her daughter reached the funeral site to bid a tearful goodbye to their hero.
“The daughter I have given birth today is the nation’s daughter and I wish she becomes an army officer,” she said at the hospital, reported Hindustan Times. She also said that she hopes her daughter gets all the facilities provided by the army so that she can get into the army with ease when she is of age.
Ranjeet joined the army in 2003 and got married to Shimpu in 2006. Other than his wife and daughter, he is survived by his parents, three sisters and three brothers. There were two other soldiers who were martyred in the same battle with militants as Ranjeet. They were too cremated with full military honours in their respective native villages.
The Logical Indian salutes Lance Naik Ranjeet Singh’s courage and sacrifice for the country. We hope that his daughter grows up to be a strong human being who would not hesitate to dedicate her life for the country and its people.
