Father: My daughter didn't want to be treated as special category child

New Delhi: A genetic disorder could not deter Anushka Panda from passing the Class 10 CBSE Board exam with flying colours.

She topped the board exam in the differently-abled category, with a score of 97.8 per cent. She scored 99 in Mathematics and Hindi, 98 in Science and Social Science and 95 in English.

Anushka, a student of Suncity School Gurgaon, is also a trained classical singer. A fan of singers Mohd Rafi and Kishore Kumar, Panda aspires to become a software engineer.

“She suffers from muscular spinal atrophy and is wheelchair bound. She could not study for long hours and had to lie down after studying for an hour but she remained determined. She has to wear a spinal brace which makes it difficult for her to sit for long hours,” her father, Anup Panda, told PTI.

Despite all this, Anus-hka never wanted to be treated as special or differently-abled, her father said. She had a special bench provided to her by the school, he said.

“She never wanted to use the extra time that was provided to her to finish the exam,” he said.