I Will Send My Children To Serve The Country, Says Colonel Santosh Babu's Wife

HYDERABAD:  Colonel Bikkumalla Santosh Babu's wife Santoshi said that she is proud of her brave husband who sacrificed his life for the country, and said that she is even ready to send her children to Indian Army if they want to join and serve the country after they grow up.

Colonel Santosh's wife gave an interview to Sakshi in which she shared a few things about her husband who was Commanding Officer of the Bihar Regiment manning the LAC at Galwan Valley in Ladakh. He was among the 20 soldiers who were killed in a border clash with Chinese troops on Monday night, June 15.

She said that her husband had advised her to give full freedom to the children to choose their career.

Responding to the question, will you allow your children to join the army?, Santoshi proudly replied that she would send them to serve the Indian army if they wanted to serve the country as their father.

Speaking about the Colonel, she said that he is a person who has always given priority to family and relations along with his duty of serving the nation. He had come to spend time with us in Delhi on March 21 and returned back to the army on April 15, she said.

We had planned to take the children for a vacation during his holidays, but couldn't go because of COVID-19 lockdown, said Santoshi.

Santoshi said that she got married to Babu 10 years ago and they have spent two years together after the marriage, after which he was in army services for four years. After that, he had returned and we were together for another three years. He left for his field duty from June 2019, said the Colonel's wife.

She said that the Colonel spoke to her on Sunday, June 14, a day before his death and inquired about the well being of children. He informed that he would be busy for the next two days as a part of de-escalation efforts at the border with China in Ladakh, said Santoshi.

"That was the last phone I got from him and two days later, I got to know about my husband's death news," she said.