Indian Air Force flight lieutenant Siddharth Yadav, who died in a Jaguar jet crash in Gujarat's Jamnagar earlier this week, was cremated with full military honours on Friday at his native village in Haryana. Thousands of locals, Indian Air Force officers, members of the armed forces, police officers, and political leaders gathered to salute Mr Yadav as his family members bid a tearful goodbye. Among them, the pilot's fiancee, Saniya, was inconsolable during the funeral.
"Show me his face...Let me see his face one more time," she can be seen repeatedly pleading in a video.
As she stood beside the coffin, crying inconsolably, she said in Hindi, "Baby tu aya nahi mujhe lene, tune promise kiya tha" (Baby you didn't come to take me, you had promised me).
In another video, Ms Saniya said no girl can be prouder than her.
Mr Yadav and Ms Saniya got engaged just 10 days before the incident. They were to marry on November 2.
Mr Yadav, a resident of Haryana's Rewari, was killed after his Jaguar fighter jet crashed due to a technical malfunction shortly after it took off from the Jamnagar Air Force Station. In his final moments, the 28-year-old pilot displayed an act of bravery as he ejected his fellow pilot from the aircraft to save his life and steered the plane away from a densely populated area, ultimately guiding it into an open field.
His colleague, Manoj Kumar Singh, was injured and is currently receiving treatment in a hospital.
Mr Yadav had recently returned to duty after a brief leave and was involved in a routine sortie when the crash occurred.
Sharing the news of the death of their pilot, the IAF wrote: "IAF deeply regrets the loss of life and stands firmly with the bereaved family. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident."
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini also expressed grief over the death of the pilot.
"I pay my respects to the martyrdom of Jaguar pilot Siddharth Yadav ji, a son of Majra (Bhalkhi) village in Rewari, in the Air Force plane crash near Jamnagar. This sacrifice of a son from the sacrificial land of Haryana will always be remembered. In this hour of grief, we all stand with the family of the martyr with full sensitivity, and I extend my complete sympathy to the relatives. May God grant the departed soul a place at His divine feet," he wrote in a post on X.
Mr Yadav belonged to a family of ex-servicemen, with his father Sushil Yadav having served in the IAF and his grandfather and great-grandfather had served in the Army. During his funeral, a large number of people, including several ex-servicemen carrying the tricolour in their hands, stood on roads showering flower petals as the vehicle carrying the IAF officer's body passed through.
The Air Force officials also offered a gun salute as his body was consigned to flames.
