As the countdown for Asha Devi's wedding began, the bangs of mortar shells not only silenced the beats of "dolaks" at her home near Indo-Pak border in Jammu, but also triggered fear among the injured family members as they cursed Pakistan.
"We were preparing for the wedding of our daughter Asha when mortar shells rained in our compound last night. Hit by the splinters, we all fell down," Asha's mother Ratno Devi told PTI.
Ratno, along with her daughter Asha, son Kuldeep and daughter-in-law Parmita, are now being treated at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu for the injuries caused by splinters of the 82-mm mortars that hit them at their Garkhal home in Akhnoor belt of Jammu district last night. Her Husband, Raj Kumar, was also injured in the shelling.
Their home, which was recently given a face-lift for the marriage, now bear the holes left behind by the splinters of the 82-mm bomb shells.
The repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement by Pakistan have made life difficult for Asha and her family.
"The beats of "dolaks" were silenced by blasts of mortar shells," said a family member.
With fear gripping the family members, Ratno Devi is now sceptical about her daughter's marriage as all the family members are bed-ridden.
Pakistani troops, meanwhile, have continued shelling the Garkhal hamlet.
"We are too scared now. How will the marriage take place under theses circumstances?" She asks, while cursing Pakistan for the shelling. "They are targeting us directly," she adds.
