The funeral of Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal at Dehradun was filled with moments like these. Looking intently at the coffin of her husband, his 27-year-old wife Nikita Kaul blew him kisses, before leaning in and whispering ‘I love you’.

She later shouted ‘Vande Mataram’ three times and then said ‘I love you, Vibhu’ in a shaky voice, breaking down as she did that.

Nikita, who works for an MNC in Delhi was travelling to the capital when she got to know about the demise of her husband and rushed back to his house in Dehradun. 

Talking about his untimely demise, she was quoted as saying:

I am not helpless. My husband was a brave heart.

The couple got married in April 2018 and Major Vibhuti was planning to come back this year for his first anniversary. 

Major Vibhuti was among 4 army men who lost their lives in the encounter between the army and Jaish e Mohammed terrorists and his mortal remains reached Dehradun on Monday.

Talking to Hindustan Times, his sister said, “Since the wedding, we had been thinking of putting up pictures of their marriage in this room. The thought scares us now that instead of the couple, a photograph of our brother will hang on this wall.”