The seven-year old daughter of slain CRPF commander Pramod Kumar today moved the nation today as she saluted her father's coffin, wrapped in the national flag.
Weeping uncontrollably, Aarna then lit the funeral pyre.
Hundreds who had gathered outside their home in Mihijam Palbagan in Jharkhand, including CRPF and police personnel, were moved to tears at the sight of the salute, and her efforts to comfort her inconsolable mother.
The 44-year-old CRPF commandant, who was a native of Bihar, was killed by militants in Kashmir on Monday, soon after he had raised the national flag in ceremony in Srinagar to mark Independence Day. "It is a very important day," he said after unfurling the flag.
Kumar, who joined the CRPF in 1998, had served in Kashmir since 2014. After receiving news militants were hurling grenades and firing with automatic weapons, the CRPF officer rushed to the site which was under attack.
"Leading from the front, he along with his men succeeded in eliminating two militants before he was hit on the upper neck," the Indian government said in a statement.
READ: CRPF Officer Pramod Kumar Unfurled The National Flag Minutes Before He Died Fighting Militants
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