It’s been two years since Kanika Rane, the widow of Major Kaustubh Rane, took an oath to fulfil his dream of serving the nation and eventually started training to join the armed forces. The 30-year-old has finally been commissioned into the Army after completing a 49-week course at the Chennai’s Officers Training Academy. After clearing the Service Selection Board exam in 2019, she enrolled for the course that ended on Saturday.
In a video shared by the Defence PRO Mumbai on Saturday, now Lieutenant Kanika Rane said, “I would not say it was an easy choice…But I knew that had our places been switched, he would have also done the same for me. I am here to fulfill his objectives and the dreams he has left behind by being in his place.”
In August 2018 her husband Major Kaustubh Rane was killed in Kashmir in an encounter with terrorists. As a tribute to her husband, Rane then set out to join the Indian Army herself. “I had never run even 100 metres before coming here and now I’m running 40 km,” said Lieutenant Rane on being commissioned into the Indian Army on Saturday, TOI reported.
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Kanika Rane was among the 230 cadets—181 men and 49 women—who were commissioned at the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai. She now lives in Colaba with her four-year-old son Agastya. Last year, she had successfully cleared the SSB exam under the ‘widows of defence personnel who died in harness’ category. In January, the mother of one had also collected the gallantry medal for her husband during the Investiture Ceremony at Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir.
Proud in-laws
“I am proud of my daughter-in-law,” said Jyoti Rane, the mother of Lieutenant Rane's mother-in-law. Though her parents and in-laws couldn't attend the ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they watched it live from their homes. “It was a recap of Kaustubh’s ceremony in 2011. We had seen his excitement on becoming a Lieutenant and found the same excitement in Kanika’s voice,” said Jyoti.
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Her father-in-law, Prakash Rane, said they encouraged her despite the tragedy. “We are happy that my daughter-in-law will fulfil her husband’s dream and serve the nation,” he added.
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