A 16-year-old girl, identified as Vanisha Pathak, who lost both her parents to Covid-19 in May this year, has secured 99.8 percent in her CBSE Class 10 exams, the results of which were announced on Tuesday.

Vanisha, who is a student of Carmel Convent Senior Secondary School, BHEL, topped the exam in the city along with two others. Her father Jeetendra Pathak, who was an insurance agent and her mother, Dr Seema Pathak, who was a government school teacher, died days within each other during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in May this year. The girl and her brother now live with their maternal uncle and aunt.

Speaking about her feelings, Vanisha said to a news agency, "The memory of my parents obviously kept me motivated and will motivate me throughout my life but he (her brother) is the biggest source of motivation right now. I am all he has and that keeps me going. I need to do something. The last thing my mother said to me was 'just believe in yourself... we will back soon'. The last words of my father were 'beta, himmat rakhna' (stay strong, my child). My father wanted to see me in IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) or crack the UPSC and serve the nation. His dream is my dream now."

The Carmel Convent principal also spoke about the teenage girl's achievements. She was reportedly quoted as saying, "Despite losing her parents she did not lose heart and has moved on in life with all the courage and will which is an inspiration."