He saved girl from molesters, they returned to kill him

A 1971 war veteran who served with the 24th Rajput battalion, Chander Pal had dreamt of seeing his son don an officer’s uniform in the same regiment.

Today, the torn father compared the gallantry medal to those pinned on his chest in time-honoured tradition. ‘‘I am proud of his achievements, but I wish he was around to add a few more medals to what he has earned today.’’

Rishi was walking home from the Raja ki Mandi market in Agra on May 23 last year when he saw some boys molesting a minor girl. Rishi single-handedly fought them off, but as he was escorting the girl home, he was warned that he would be killed.

The boys made good their promise two days later: they tracked him down and shot him with a country-made pistol. ‘‘We rushed him to Shri Ram Hospital. When his condition worsened after 10 days, we shifted him to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi,’’ Chander Pal said. But the clock had already started ticking for Rishi — he died two days later.

Attached to the 1 Uttar Pradesh battalion NCC in Agra, Rishi was in his final year at college. He had been swotting hard for a science degree, and was waiting to hear from the Union Public Service Commission to enrol in the army as an officer.

‘‘There was little my son couldn’t do. Every time he tried out something, he would excel at it,’’ his mother Shanta Devi said. Rishi had even applied for the Indian Military Academy as well as for a master’s degree in computer applications. It was only after his death that his family learnt that he had got admission for both the courses.