We were planning his bday, now his funeral—family mourns Navy officer killed in Pahalgam, on honeymoon

Indian Navy Lt. Vinay Narwal and IAF Corporal Tage Hailyang were in Kashmir for a getaway with their wives. Narwal had just married 8 days before the attack.

A Navy officer pays tribute to the mortal remains of Indian Navy Lieutenant Vinay Narwal | ANI

New Delhi: Among the 26 victims of Tuesday’s deadly massacre in Pahalgam were two young defence personnel—Indian Navy Lieutenant Vinay Narwal and Indian Air Force Corporal Tage Hailyang. The attack, one of the most brutal in recent years, has sent shockwaves through the nation.

Lt. Narwal had set off for his honeymoon in Kashmir just 8 days after his marriage to Himanshi, who lives in Gurugram. According to his family, the couple had originally planned a trip to Europe but, due to visa delays, chosen Kashmir as their alternative destination.

A resident of Bhusali village in Karnal, Haryana, Narwal joined the Navy three years ago after completing his engineering degree and was later posted to Kochi. His family said they were planning celebrations for his 27th birthday on 1 May.

“He had his whole life ahead of him,” his mother-in-law said to ThePrint. “We were all looking forward to his birthday celebration, now we’re preparing for his last rites.”

The arrival of his mortal remains in Karnal is expected by late evening. Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi paid his respects by laying a wreath at Indira Gandhi International Airport before the body was transported for final rites.

Corporal Tage Hailyang was also in Kashmir on vacation with his wife. An Air Force serviceman with nearly a decade of service, he was on leave at the time of the attack.

Hailyang, 30, who was from Tajang village in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, was mourned by the state’s Chief Minister, Pema Khandu.

“Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Corporal Tage Hailyang of the Indian Air Force, a brave son of Arunachal Pradesh… While visiting Pahalgam with his wife, his life was cruelly taken in a senseless act of terror,” he posted on X.

Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Corporal Tage Hailyang of the Indian Air Force, a brave son of Arunachal Pradesh who hailed from Tajang village in Lower Subansiri. While visiting Pahalgam with his wife, his life was cruelly taken in a senseless act of terror.

He served the… pic.twitter.com/qKuJFEloPk

— Pema Khandu པདྨ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་། (@PemaKhanduBJP) April 23, 2025

An official from the Indian Air Force said to ThePrint that Corporal Hailyang’s remains arrived in New Delhi by 2.30 pm and later flown to Guwahati on an Air India flight accompanied by five family members.

(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)