BENGALURU: The 21-year-old Kerala college girl Hanan Hamid , who captured the imagination of India by selling fish to pay for her college tuition, is winning hearts again with her Rs 1.5 lakh contribution to the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund .

Hanan, who was earlier a victim of cyber-bullying, waded through thigh-deep water on Saturday to get to the Central Bank of India branch in Kothamangalam, Ernakulam district, Kerala.

Hanan, who is currently a patient at a hospital in Kothamangalam, said she thought she would face difficulty in sending the money as her home bank branch was in Thirssur. "But, the bank officials were very kind and helped me out. We could have transferred the money yesterday, but there was power outage and the bank branch was not operational. Today, they sent my money through RTGS transfer first thing in the morning," says Hanan.

The third-year student , pursuing B.Sc Chemistry at Al Azhar College of Arts and Sciences in Idukki, Thodupuzha, said, "I have kept aside money I earned from selling fish for my college fee. Other than that, I have sent all the money I got from kind people; my well wishers."

In July, Hanan got trolled on social media platforms after rumours surfaced that she was hoaxing the public about being poor. Hanan, who is financially weak, found it difficult to cope with the flood of nasty messages and hatred that followed. But soon fact-checkers in public and the media confirmed the truth to her story - and this was followed by the arrest of a resident of Guruvayur for spreading hate.

"Seeing my plight, people sent me Rs 500, Rs 2,000. Today, many of my donors are in trouble. So I want to help them. That is why I am returning the entire amount back. The money I'm retaining is what I earned from odd jobs after college," says Hanan.

Hospital staff say Hanan, who is undergoing treatment for various ailments, has been helping out with local relief work in Kothamangalam. Everyday the hospital cooks massive amounts of rice and curry for the flood victims housed in a nearby school. "She also accompanies us and tries to cheer up people by chatting with them," says a hospital staff member.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is a fan of the young girl, dubbed her "Kerala's daughter.

