Mitali Madhumita

Mitali Madhumita is the second woman officer in the Indian Army to receive a gallantry award. The first woman officer to be awarded Sena Medal for gallantry is Capt (Dr) CR Leena in 1995.

Colonel Mitali Madhumita received the Sena Medal in 2011 and operations in Jammu-Kashmir went into the Indian embassy which had come under attack and rescued several injured civilians and army personnel from the debris. About nineteen people died in the 2010 Kabul embassy attack including seven Indians.

Army career and the legal fight to stay in the army Madhumita joined the army in the year 2000 on a short service commission. She was part of the Army Education Corps and served in Kabul, Afghanistan as a part of the army's English Language Training program. Madhumita was also posted in sensitive areas like Jammu-Kashmir and the northeast of the Indian state. Madhumita being a short service commission officer requested the army for a permanent commission but the Ministry of Defence refused to accept her request, Madhumita appealed the Ministry of Defence's decision not to give her permanent commission before the Armed Forces Tribunal in March 2014. The Tribunal found her request had merit and in February 2015 directed the Ministry of Defence to reinstate her. She is currently been appointed as the principal of Sainik School, Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh.

Sena Medal +RIBBON Sena Medal