The wife of one of the 20 Galwan soldiers killed in a clash with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in June 2020 has passed the personality and IQ tests and will now enter the Chennai-based Officers Training Academy (OTA).

Rekha Devi, 23, was married to Naik Deepak Singh of the 16th Bihar Regiment, who was killed in action on June 15, 2020, in the remote Galwan Valley while fighting numerically superior Chinese soldiers, and was posthumously awarded the hallowed Vir Chakra for his heroism by President Ram Nath Kovind last November.

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After the Param Vir Chakra and the Maha Vir Chakra, the Vir Chakra is India’s third-highest wartime military honour.

In Allahabad, Rekha Devi participated in a five-day Services Selection Board (SSB) interview. She is now being recommended for pre-commission training at Officers Training Academy (OTA).

Devi would have to take a medical check after passing the interview before the Union Public Service Commission releases the final merit list for OTA applicants (UPSC). She will be trained at the OTA for nine months before being commissioned as an army lieutenant.

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Rekha, who is from Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, will join a rising number of military widows who have opted to pursue a career in the armed services as officers after their husbands were killed in action, carrying on the brave men’s legacy.

The wives of soldiers killed in action are excluded from taking the Combined Defence Services Examination, which is administered by USPC to qualify for the SSB interview.

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They are also allowed to age relaxation, however, Rekha did not require it; OTA candidates must be between the ages of 19 and 25. On November 23, 2021, she got her husband’s Vir Chakra from President Kovind during an investiture ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Naik Deepak Singh, a nursing assistant, went to the frontlines to offer first aid to the injured soldiers due to the escalating violence. He was severely hurt, yet he continued to provide medical care to the injured soldiers. Before dying of his injuries, he managed to rescue up to 30 lives.