IAF Sergeant Ashish Juyal Returns Home in Tricolour on Daughter Ginny’s Birthday, Dies Before Promise Fulfilled
Sergeant Ashish Juyal of the Indian Air Force was brought home to Kothi village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Thursday, 17 September, not for the birthday celebration he had promised his daughter, but for his final rites. The 37-year-old airman, posted in Delhi, had told his six-year-old daughter Ginny that he would return on 16 September to celebrate her birthday. Instead, his mortal remains arrived wrapped in the national tricolour after he died during treatment at the Army Base Hospital in Delhi (Palam).
Juyal’s health reportedly deteriorated suddenly on 12 September, after which he was admitted to the hospital in Delhi. He died on the night of 15 September, leaving his family and village in shock. The cremation was carried out the same day his body reached his ancestral home, at the Ghatbagad ghat on the banks of the Pindar river, with full military honours.
The scene in Kothi village was one of deep grief, especially for Ginny, who had been waiting in new clothes for her father’s return. She had expected balloons and a cake cut by him on her birthday. Instead, she received news of his death the previous night and saw his body arrive the next day. At the funeral, the child saluted her father through tears, a moment that moved villagers and relatives who had gathered in large numbers.
Juyal is survived by his mother Deveshwari, wife Sandhya and daughter Ginny. He was the only son of the late Shambhu Prasad Juyal and the brother of three sisters. His mother and wife were reported to be repeatedly fainting after the news of his death, as the family struggled to cope with the loss.
Hundreds of villagers attended the last rites. Indian Air Force personnel paid their respects with a salute and a dirge, while floral tributes were offered by Tharali MLA Bhupal Ram Tamta, Air Force Warrant Officer Sanjay Kumar and local representatives. For the village, the day that had been expected to bring birthday joy instead became a farewell marked by military honours and collective mourning.
As the village fell silent after the cremation, the contrast remained stark: a child’s birthday that had been awaited with hope, and a father who returned home one final time draped in the tricolour.
