Phukan, who hailed from a well-known family of Jorhat, got married to Dr. Dharanith Phukan at the young age of 22. Despite this, she kept her passion for studies alive and learnt the languages of Hindi, Bengali and English. Phukan leaves behind three children, Kalyan Phukan, Sudipto Phukan and Kalpa Khound (former Principal of DHSKC College and former district governor of Rotary Intertiol), son-in-law Dr Kalyan Khound, grand children and large number of her admirers.