New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS): The head of Lance Naik Hemraj, who was brutally killed along with another soldier by Pakistani troops, has to be brought through diplomatic channels, Army Chief General Bikram Singh said Monday.

Calling it a "gruesome and an unpardonable act", Bikram Singh said: "With regard to getting the head back, it has to be done through diplomatic channels."

Hemraj's wife has been fasting in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, demanding that the severed head of her husband be handed over to the family.

"We are with her and we understand. I am the head of the clan and I am like a father. We will make sure they are given all possible help. We will give them all that is due and everything they are entitled to," said Bikram Singh.

Border tensions between India and Pakistan have risen sharply since the Jan 6 death of a Pakistani soldier in alleged firing by Indian forces along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

Two days later, on Jan 8 Pakistani soldiers killed and mutilated two Indian soldiers in the Mendhar sector in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. The soldiers were identified as Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh and Lance Naik Hemraj of the Rajputana Rifles.