New Delhi: 15-year-old Kapil, who made the
supreme sacrifice while saving his schoolmates from flood fury
in Uttarakhand, is among the five children to get the National
Bravery Awards posthumously this year.
Nineteen other children, including 8 eight girls, will
receive the awards from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of
the Republic Day.
The names of the 24 bravehearts were announced by the
Indian Council for Child Welfare on Wednesday.
At the press conference, where the names were announced,
choked with emotion, Kapil's father Birendra Singh Negi said,
"At this moment, I am filled with pride. I have never felt
like this before."
Kapil had on September 8...., lost his life while trying
to save the life of schoolmates after his school in
Rudraprayag District of Uttarakhand was flooded after heavy
rains.
Initially, Kapil was helped by classmate Subodh, but due
to a landslide stones began to roll from above and Subodh also
had to step aside. However, Kapil continued his rescue act as
he carried school kids on his back to safety, before becoming
a casualty himself.
"There are lots of children in the rural areas of our
country who display immense courage in their daily lives, the
media should reach out more to them," Negi said as his wife
Anita stood by.
Besides Kapil, Saudhita Barman, Lovely Verma, Aditya
Gopal and C Lalduhawma will get the award posthumously.
The prestigious Geeta Chopra award was given to Mittal
Patadiya from Ahmedabad, who at Twelve years old had enough
courage to fight off robbers who had attacked her foster
mother. It took four hours of surgery and 251 stitches to
close the wounds Mittal had received.
"They had attacked my mother so I decided not to let him
go. He was caught but another one escaped," Mittal said. "She
is my Jhansi ki Rani," her foster mother Kavita Ben kept
repeating.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 20:30