Himachal's Suman Kumari, 2021 recruit, is BSF's first woman sniper

INDORE: The sniper stealthily craws into position, smoothly works the bolt and slides a round into the chamber. Target in crosshairs. And a glass ceiling pierced at 3,200kmph… It’s only when the sniper gets up and takes off the camouflage ghillie suit that you realise it’s a ‘she’. Meet BSF’s first woman sniper, SI Suman Kumari, also the first woman to get ‘instructor grade’ in the gruelling eight-week BSF sniper course at Central School of Weapons and Tactics in Indore.

Suman joined BSF in 2021 and was commanding a platoon in Punjab when she realized, with fury, the threat of sniper attacks from across the border. Determined to pay back in kind, Suman volunteered for the sniper course and wrote to her superiors. Encouraged by her steely resolve, they readily gave the go-ahead.

“She was the lone woman among 56 men and she put up an amazing performance in every activity. We are hoping that more female recruits will take up this course,” said CSWT IG Bhaskar Singh Rawat told TOI on Saturday.

“Trainees who perform exceptionally well get Alpha and Bravo grading, but a separate screening test is done for ‘instructor grade’ that Suman has achieved. She is the first woman sniper in BSF and will be an inspiration for other women to come forward. This course is one of the toughest after the commando training,” Rawat said. She is now eligible to get posted as a sniper instructor.

Suman hails from a humble background in Himachal’s Mandi district. Her father is an electrician and mother is a homemaker.

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