Ahmedabad:
The loss of their 26-year-old son to militants was hard enough but Jawan Abhay Shankar Yadav's grieving parents had to take their fight to the court when the Shaurya Chakra awarded to him posthumously was given away to his fiance.
Jawan Abhay Shankar Yadav was martyred in a operation against militants in Jammu and Kashmir in 2008.
The Army awarded him the Shaurya Chakra posthumously. His parents, Sushila and Rajdhari were notified six months later, much to their shock that the award and the monetary benefits had been given to his fiancé, Sadhana.
Sadhana had forged documents to prove she was Abhay's widow.
Abhay's mother, Sushila Devi: "My son had put my name in the nomination form when he had joined the Army. But the fiancé submitted forged documents and the Shaurya Chakra and the compensation was handed over to her wrongly. It was a grave injustice done to us by some Army officials.''
Rajdhari Yadav, the martyr's father: "I called the Army Headquarters. Nobody listened to us. I approached his unit in Jammu but was told to approach authorities in Aurangabad. We went there but were turned back and told that the award had been given after verification.''
The distraught parents approached the Gujarat High Court.
The Army and the government began an inquiry.
Finally last week the court asked the Army to hand over the award and the benefits to the parents.
Kishore M Pal, Counsel for the parents says, "The Gujarat High Court has taken serious note of the case and ordered all the benefits including the award to be taken from the fake widow and to be handed over to the martyr's parents."
One might say that Sushila and Rajdhari have justice, but it has come at a great cost.