Following Husband's Footstep, Martyred Pulwama Hero's Wife Earns Army Uniform

New Delhi : Nitika Kaul, the wife of martyr Late Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, is one among the 31 women cadets who graduated today, 25 months after her husband made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

Lieutenant Nikita Kaul received her medal of honours from Lieutenant Gen Y K Joshi, Chief of the Indian Army's Northern Command, at the Officer's Training Academy, Chennai. 

Tragically befell upon young Nikita Kaul two years ago, when she lost her beloved husband putting their simple and charming love story to a painful end. During martyr Late Major Dhoundiyal's state funeral, brave Nikita Kaul gracefully asked mourners to stay strong rather. 

"I am really proud. We all love you. The way you love everyone is entirely different because you sacrificed your life for the people who you may have never met, but still you decided to give your life for them. You are such a brave man. I am very honoured to have you as my husband. I'll love you till my last breath. I owe my life to you" were the words she uttered to her martyred husband. 

Major Dhoundiyal was one of four soldiers killed in an 18-hour gunfight in Pulwama, Kashmir, on February 20, 2019. The others were Sepoy Hari Singh, 27, Havaldar Sheo Ram, 37, and Sepoy Ajay Kumar, 27. Among those killed in the operation was a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist believed of being the mastermind of the terror strike that killed around 40 CRPF jawans a week earlier in the same district.

In April of that year, the Major was due to return home for the couple's first wedding anniversary. 

Following his death, Mrs Kaul, who was working for a private business at the time, vowed to follow in her husband's footsteps and joined OTA, Chennai. After eleven months of training, she has been commissioned into the Indian Army's Ordnance Corps and assigned to the Southwestern Command. 

"My journey has just started...I'd like to thank everyone who kept faith in me. My mother-in-law, my mother, and others who have been part of this journey," Lt Kaul said. 

"It's like a parallel world. The day I stepped in, I felt that I am taking the same journey that he took. He is somewhere around here. Looking at me, holding me and saying, 'you just did it'. I just love you Vibhu, I'll always love you," she said remembering her husband. 

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