N. Sonu has not had an easy childhood. Only eight years ago, she was found begging with her father in front of the Gundanjaneya Temple at Sanjeevanagar, Hebbal, here. On Thursday, as the results of the SSLC exam were announced, Sonu had scripted a success story, scoring 96.32%, taking her a step closer to her dream of becoming a software engineer.
As a five-year-old, Sonu migrated to Bengaluru from Yadgir in north Karnataka with her father after her mother’s demise. They stayed on the outskirts of the city and depended on construction work to make a living. Her father, under the influence of alcohol, would assault her, leading the neighbours to file a complaint with the police. After a police warning, her father mended his ways and they shifted to Sanjeevanagar. They would beg in front of the temple till the evening, and then take shelter in the same temple at night.
A volunteer from the Sparsha Trust, which works with children, found the girl in front of the temple while she was begging and rescued her. They convinced her father and took her to the trust’s residential home at Hesaraghatta. Then, they got her enrolled in Class 3 in the Government Higher Primary school at Sahakarnagar and she studied there up to Class VIII.
