Fled marriage, lived at railway stations, slums: ‘Dead’ Army soldier returns after 16 years

CHANDIGARH: "I never died." Surinder Singh, an Army soldier from Himachal Pradesh's Kangra announced, stunning officials and family alike when he walked into a Pathankot courtroom in Punjab after vanishing 16 years ago — a disappearance driven by a dowry case.
Declared dead in Army records by his wife who started receiving his family pension as a widow, Singh surrendered before the court a few months ago seeking to reclaim his identity.
Singh had allegedly fled due to harassment following dowry-related charges filed by his wife, Meena Kumari, a resident of Gho village in Pathankot.
"I was depressed. My wife had slapped a case of dowry harassment against me and my parents. She used to insult me at my place of posting and treated me so badly that I decided to renounce the world," Singh told TOI. "I stayed at railway stations and slums in Gujarat and Maharashtra for years. Whenever I thought of coming back to my unit in the Army or my house, the harassment caused by my wife stopped me," Singh added.
The Army's 32-Medium Regiment and its intelligence wing have now launched a probe to determine the circumstances of his disappearance — and whether it was a genuine case of desertion or part of a broader conspiracy.
Singh served in the Army for 11.5 years and was last posted in Gujarat before disappearing. He said the case ruined his military career as well as his personal life. Singh said he last saw his only son — now in Class XI — when the child was just a year old. "He may not even recognise me now," he said.
Singh's parents, who were co-accused in the dowry case, were acquitted by a trial court on Jan 10, 2014.
The Pathankot chief judicial magistrate has fixed the next hearing on April 23, asking his wife to appear and lead pre-charge evidence. The court has also ordered regular hearings of the matter, considering the case has been pending since 2008.
It was on May 14, 2008, Meena Kumari filed a complaint before a local court in Pathankot against Singh, a native of Dnakwan village, Kangra, under Sections 406 and 498-A of the IPC for harassment for dowry and related charges. The court summoned them to face trial. On April 9, 2010, Singh was declared a proclaimed offender. Summons, warrants, and proclamation were issued against Singh in due course of law, but he was not found either at his address or at his place of duty. He was not even reporting for his duty. Meanwhile, the Army, in its proceedings against him, presumed him to be dead and granted a family pension to his estranged wife as his legal heir.
Singh told the court he with an accident in 2009, lost his memory, and regained it recently. The court sent him to judicial custody and ordered the matter be brought to the attention of his commanding officer in the Army. The judge in his order recorded it to be a case of "dead man walking to the court to surrender".
Singh is currently out on bail and residing with his brother in Kangra.
Singh told TOI that after living in exile for around 16 years, he contacted his brother on Facebook, and decided to return only after he convinced him. He added that last month, he sent letters to the Army authorities as well as the record office of the regiment stating that he is alive. He claimed that in 2020 also, he tried to contact his unit for surrender at place of duty but because of pendency of the case and Covid-19 pandemic, he could not do so.