Even as her father's funeral pyre burned, Disha Nagnath Ubale wrote her Marathi paper in the SSC exam, refusing to be overwhelmed by her loss.

The Class 10 student's father, who had been battling an illness, passed away on Thursday evening. His funeral was scheduled at their Bhada village for Friday.

Disha, a student of Zilla Parishad Girls' School in Bhada, said she was unsure if she would appear for her Secondary School Certificate (SSC) paper on Friday. That's when her teacher Shivaling Nagapure stepped in.

Nagapure said he reached out to Sudhakar Telang, chairman of the Latur Divisional Board, who spoke with Disha and encouraged her not to give up.

Showing immense courage, the 16-year-old girl wiped off her tears, bid farewell to her father and headed to the exam centre at Azim High School in Ausa on Friday for her Marathi paper. Disha's family includes her grandmother, mother, and younger brother.

While she wrote her paper in Ausa, her father's last rites were performed, said Premnath Lature, a resident of Bhada village.