Kota, Jun 22 (PTI) A 28-year-old Indian Army soldier who died in an accident at a railway station in Assam was cremated with full state honours in his native village, Kherkheda, in Jhalawar district on Sunday, authorities said.
Naik Pawan Prajapati was deboarding a train in Assam late Thursday, when he fell headfirst and sustained critical injuries, Jhalawar Sub-Divisional Magistrate Abhishek Charan said. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead.
Prajapati's five-year-old son lit his father's pyre from the lap of his grandfather.
Jhalawar-Baran MP Dushyant Singh, Khanpur MLA Suresh Gurjar, Manohar Thana MLA Govind Ranipuria, and SDM Charan were among those who attended the funeral.
The soldier's tricolour-draped body was carried for about eight km in a procession from Asnawar to Kherkheda village.
The members of the procession hailed him with patriotic slogans and showered him with flower petals.
Prajapati's body was flown from Assam to Jaipur on Saturday and was brought to Jhalawar via road in the morning today.
The soldier is survived by two sons, five years, six months, wife Pooja, father Premchand, who is a farmer, and mother, the SDM said.
He had been serving in the Indian Army for nine years and returned to duty in Assam on June 15 after vacation.