Unnao Village, UP:
The maximum number of CRPF jawans killed by Naxals in the Chintalnad forests of Chhattisgarh last week were from Uttar Pradesh. Head Constable Sushil Kumar Deepak was one among them. As his story moves away from the headlines NDTV revisited his family to understand the many fractured lives and hopes martyrs across the country have left behind.
"Why did he love me so much?", asks Sunita, a pained wife of CRPF Head constable, Sushil Kumar Deepak who was killed in the Dantewada attack on April 6.
Theirs was an arranged marriage back in 1996. He was 24 while she, barely 21 years old.
Though life never offered them a chance to spent more than two months together at a stretch they were madly in love.
"I never had to overtly express myself. He just knew how I felt without me having to put it in words. I only wish he was with me. I don't care if he had no arms, no legs. His being with me would have been enough," adds Sunita.
A week has passed since the tragedy and the children now know their father won't return.
They are too young to express their loss yet old enough to be pained by memories
"We used to play lodu and chess," says the 9-yr old daughter of the CRPF Head constable.
Babloo, Sushil's nephew says, "If I get into the CRPF, I wish for a posting in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, so that I can give the Naxals a fitting reply."
Yes, the nation lost a brave jawan. However, for Sunita, Sushil was never a jawan he was her husband and her whole life.
That part of her life has crumbled, the tears slowly cementing into a silent pain for life.