Why Rajnath Singh was at this BSF officer's home

NEW DELHI: He often looked death in the eye when defending his country. But in one such fierce encounter, BSF Assistant Commandant Sandeep Mishra lost vision in both eyes. That, however, was just a minor detail for a girl from UP, Indrakshi Tripathi, who took Sandeep's hand in what has since turned out to be 12 years of blissful matrimony.

Moved by their story, home minister Rajnath Singh, who was at the BSF Academy in Tekanpur, Madhya Pradesh, visited their home. He praised Mishra, now 43 years old, for not giving up on life even after receiving five bullet injuries, one piercing through his left eye and exiting from the right eye in 2000, when his patrol team was ambushed by Ulfa militants in Assam's Tinsukia.

It is their love for the country which binds Sandip and Indrakshi together. It was a delight to have Lunch at their house in Tekanpur. pic.twitter.com/YAgxidKcqo

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) March 25, 2017

A President's police medal for gallantary awardee, Mishra is now a member of the computer faculty at Swayam, the BSF rehabilitation centre in Tekanpur. He uses screen reader software to teach them.

"Met the family of visually challenged BSF Assi stant Commandant Sandeep Mishra who lost his eyesight during an ambush in 2000. It is their love for the country which binds Sandeep and Indrakshi together. It was a delight to have lunch at their home in Tekanpur," Singh tweeted.

Indrakshi, daughter of a lawyer from Bansi in Sidharthnagar district of UP, saw a matrimonial ad in 2004 given by Mishra's family. If this man could do so much for his country, why can't I marry him, she thought, and told her father that she would marry only him. Mishra said Singh's visit was an "honour" and a "great gesture".