The Covid-19 pandemic left many children without parents and family, making their daily lives a struggle. Such is the story of a 17-year-old girl from Bhopal called Vanisha Pathak, who lost both her parents to the coronavirus pandemic.

Vanisha Pathak, who was the Class 10 board topper in Bhopal, lost both her parents to the pandemic and is now battling legal notices at her home every day, demanding that the teenager pay back a home loan her father had taken from LIC.

Vanisha’s father Jeetendra Pathak, who was a LIC agent, had taken out a loan from his place of work. Ever since he has passed, the 17-year-old has been on the receiving end of letters threatening legal action against her if she doesn’t repay the loan.

Since Pathak and her brother are both minors, the company has reportedly frozen all the savings and commissions the LIC agent would get on a monthly basis. Vanisha has also written to the company, urging them to give her time to repay the loan.

While speaking to TOI, a helpless Vanisha said that with all her father’s assets and commissions blocked, they have no source of income and no means to repay the loan. Her uncle, who has been taking care of both the children, also said that he did not have such a hefty amount to repay the Rs 29 lakh loan.

TOI had further contacted the LIC office, who said that the requests made by Vanisha have been transferred to the central office, but the teenager reportedly has no information regarding this.

Looking at the plight of the young girl, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stepped into her defence. While tweeting a news article about Vanisha Pathak and her battle with the home loan, Sitharaman urged the authorities to “look into” the matter.

Further, Nirmala Sitharaman tagged the Department of Financial Services and LIC India in her tweet, and asked them to provide her with a “brief of the current situation”. With the involvement of the union minister, it is likely that things will look up for Vanisha.