Helicopter crash: Family to wait for Satpal Rai’s body

The soldier’s son Bickal Rai, 20, is an army jawan posted in Delhi, where the deceased has been flown from Tamil Nadu

Satpal Rai.: File photo

Vivek Chhetri   |   TT  |  Darjeeling   |  12.12.21: The family of Satpal Rai, the Darjeeling soldier who was killed in the chopper crash that claimed General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday, are determined to bring his body home even if it means an excruciating wait.

Satpal, the personal security officer of Gen. Rawat, is among the 10 armymen whose bodies have been so badly charred in the crash in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor that DNA tests are being conducted for identification.

Mandira, Satpal’s wife, said on Saturday: “My son called me up today to say that it might only be possible to bring the body here after December 13 (Monday) as it might take time (for the DNA result to be available). My son is saying that ‘even if delayed, I will bring papa’s body, and I will wait’.”

Satpal’s son Bickal Rai, 20, is an army jawan posted in Delhi, where the deceased have been flown from Tamil Nadu.

Mandira, too, is willing to wait. “I hope the government will properly identify his body and send it to us. It has been four days now, we have waited and will wait further,” said Mandira, in her late 30s and a resident of Takdah, around 25km from Darjeeling town.

Sources said Bickal could not identify Satpal’s body and had asked for a DNA test. Bickal serves in the same regiment as his father, the 5/11 Gorkha Rifles.

DNA samples have been collected from Satpal’s mother Santu Maya, 68, and the armyman’s 16-year-old daughter Muskan and Bickal.

Satpal and Bickal used to live about a 15 minutes’ drive from each other in Delhi and had last physically met during a get-together on December 3.

Mandira said that while she was finding it difficult to come to terms with reality, she was proud that her husband had sacrificed his life while serving the nation. “The heart will never accept this loss but I consider myself fortunate that he gave his life while serving the nation,” she said.

(https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/helicopter-crash-family-to-wait-for-satpal-rais-body/cid/1842911)