NEW DELHI: The Indian army has its first woman combat soldier with 35-year-old Sapper Shanti Tigga joining the 969 Railway Engineer Regiment of the Territorial Army, Times of India quoted a report from the Press Trust of India Monday.
Women are allowed to join the armed forces only as officers in the non-combat units, but Tigga, a mother of two, has earned the distinction of being the first woman soldier in the 1.3 million strong defense forces, said the report quoting a senior army officer as saying.
Tigga performed exceedingly well in all the physical tests and took five seconds less than her male counterparts to complete 1.5- km run. She completed the 50 metre run in 12 seconds which is rated as excellent.
Employed with the railways as points-man posted in West Bengal, Tigga volunteered for the Territorial Army (TA) last year.
“I joined railways in 2005 on compensatory ground after my husband passed away. Last year, I learned about TA railways and I volunteered for it,” Tigga was quoted as saying.