Captain Anshuman Singh's Widow Smriti Singh Recalls Their Last Conversation: 'On July 18… Next Day, He Died'

"It was love at first sight," recalled Smriti Singh, the wife of the late Captain Anshuman Singh, who was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra for his ultimate sacrifice in saving the lives of his fellow army men during a fire at Siachen.

Smriti Singh received the award from President Droupadi Murmu, the supreme commander of the armed forces, on Friday. The Kirti Chakra is India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award.

Recalling their love story, Smriti Singh said, “We met on the first day of our college. I wouldn't be dramatic, but it was love at first sight. After a month, he got selected into the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). We met in an engineering college, and he got selected into a medical college—a super intelligent guy. After just one month of meeting, we embarked on a long-distance relationship for eight years. Eventually, we decided it was time to get married, so we did.”

The couple got married in February 2023 after Captain Singh graduated from AFMC.

Recollecting their conversations, Smriti added, “Unfortunately, within two months of marriage, he got posted to Siachen. On July 18, we had a long conversation about how our life would be in the next 50 years — building a house, having kids, and everything in between. The next morning, on the 19th, I received a call informing me that he was no more."

In July 2023, a short circuit caused a fire accident at an Indian Army ammunition dump in Siachen around 3 am. As the fire engulfed the dump, Captain Singh bravely assisted in rescuing fellow army personnel who were trapped inside a fibre-glass hut. The blaze spread to a nearby medical investigation shelter. In a heroic effort to retrieve life-saving medicines from the shelter, Captain Singh sustained severe burns and tragically passed away.