'Couldn't bring my husband back': Heartbroken families recount chilling moments of the Pahalgam massacre

The valleys of Pahalgam, once a haven for tourists, transformed into a landscape of mourning after a terror attack claimed 27 lives on Tuesday. By Thursday, shattered families, with tearful eyes and inconsolable children, received the bodies of their loved ones, while social media echoed with their heartbreak and loss.

Shubham Dwivedi was the first to fall. His wife, still reeling from the trauma, said, “Shubham was the first victim of the terrorists. They shot him first. Sanjay Dwivedi, Shubham's father says, “They asked them whether you are a Hindu or a Muslim, and after that, they shot my son in the head.”

Jennifer Nathaniel, the wife of Sushil Nathaniel, recounted her final moments with her husband. “I could not bring my husband back the way I had taken him.” She described the horror: “There were three young boys who pointed a gun at my husband and asked him to recite Kalma. He said that I am a Christian and I do not know how to recite Kalma. They pushed him and shot him in the chest,” she added.

Naksh Kalathiya, a young boy from Surat, saw his father, Shailesh Kalathiya, brutally killed before his eyes. “My father was singled out for being a Hindu and shot dead by a terrorist in front of me and my mother,” Naksh said. “The people asked us to separate — Muslims and Hindus. Bullets were fired on Hindus,” he added.

Meanwhile on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation’s pain and resolve during a speech in Bihar’s Madhubani. “India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers and our spirit will never be broken,” he said, two days after the killings.